Rebel With A Cause (Old Habits Die Hard part 2)
by Brooklyn79
Summary: Sequel story. Just when life had settled down and things are going good for the Jane family, one eventful night turns Patrick Jane and Teresa Lisbon world on it's head once more, starting a dangerous new game. Can Jane save his family? Will evil De Santis get his revenge on Lisbon? And who's playing who?
1. Chapter 1

Hello everyone! Firstly, this new story is a sequel to my Old Habits Die Hard story. This time the story is going to be a joint collaboration between myself and Damnitjane, I used all my charm and manage to convince her to write this new story with me, which creating a story together will be good fun and I am really looking forward too writing it with her.

 **This new story will be full of action, drama, angst, darker Jane and characters, twists and turn and definitely M RATED. ;) Please don't say we didn't warn you from the start.** (If you need something fluffier, then def check out Damnitjane ff author page, she has written some great TM romance one shots to fill you boots up with. She is listed on my Fave Author page.)

Thanks for reading our story and we hope you enjoy it as much as we will writing it! :)

* * *

 _'The lawyer nodded his head picking up his brief case. "I will be in touch again soon with regards to your bail hearing Mr De Santis. Until then I suggest you keep your nose clean in here and you will be a free man before you know it..."_

 _Once his lawyer had left the Interagation room De Santis sat quietly alone with his thoughts. He rubbed his fingertip along the fresh new scar on the back his hand from where the brunette cop had jammed a steel blade into it all those months ago._

 _It was then that De Santis made a promise to himself, the minute he was out of this shit hole prison he would track down Teresa Lisbon making sure she knew that he wasn't a man to crossed or made a fool of. Federal Agent or not. She would pay for this and he would personally would make sure of it...'_

* * *

Chapter 1

 **Eleven months later...**

He stood outside their cabin and looked on as the lights went dark from inside the house. In the moonlight, the knife in his hand glimmered brightly against the rays as his other hand knotted into a fist. Teresa Lisbon was going to pay dearly. Eleven months, four days and seventeen hours he had been waiting for this moment. Nobody locks up Tony De Santis for nearly a year in that hell hole and gets away with it. Nobody!

Waiting another thirty minutes, hoping they were now settled down for the night, he started off toward the small, innocuous cabin with murder only on his mind. He took a direct route to the front door, ghosting between shadows and the sound of the water off to his left. He reached out a hand and felt for the knob of the front door, trying hard not to step on the wrong plank of wood and have it creak.

He turned toward the door when the knob didn't budge. Sticking the edge of the knife between the lock and frame, Tony joggled the knife as silently as he could. The popping sound of the lock giving way brought a smile to his face. This one was easy. It was almost too easy.

Stepping inside the dark, quiet house, Tony closed the door behind him and kept himself against the wall, gliding down the hallway with small strides. It was as he was nearing the first door on the right side that he heard a noise.

"Shit," he whispered.

He couldn't quite place the sounds at first. As he came up to the slightly opened door, he peeked an eye through the crack. The sound was obvious, now. They were having sex. At least, they were warming up to it. The room was in darkness but he could still see their silhouettes moving.

Instead of sneaking into their room or ambushing them, Tony stood quietly watching them as they initiated sex. He could hear every word and every moan they were making. This would be interesting to watch, he thought, especially as he had just spent eleven months stuck with two thousand lowlife men for his only company. Very, _very_ interesting. He lowered the knife to his side and tuned into the show.

* * *

Jane locked his lips on hers, his hands wading through the deep chocolate curls that fell over the stark white pillow. He felt her hands skim his spine from the base of his neck to the small of his back, her fingers dancing against the naked flesh of his butt.

As soon as he felt her fingers on him, his mouth teased and tickled her jaw and her chin, falling slowly down her neck and to the inset of her throat.

"You know what that does to me," he whispered to her. He kissed her across her collar bone and at the swell of her breasts.

"Oh?" she replied, chuckling as she rubbed her palms of the smooth skin at his butt. "Good to know."

"I couldn't imagine not doing this with you, Teresa."

"Mm," she agreed, feeling his mouth lock onto one of her breasts. She hissed in delight. "Easy there, cowboy. They're still going to be there in the morning," she teased.

"Cowboy? I have the champion gun in town," Jane chuckled against her breast as his lips gently drank in her puckered, rosy bud.

Her coherency slipped as the sensation nearly unnerved her. She pinched him with her hands, making him let her go and look up at her face. He smiled wickedly at the expression on her face. She was being pleasured. He wanted to fill her with pleasure. The taste of her skin. The Feel of her.

He dipped his face and dragged his lips down the middle of her belly, kissing her navel as he got there. Her hands slid from his back and came to tangle in his blond tufts of hair.

Jane's hands left her curls and he brought them down to hold onto her slim hips as his mouth dipped downward to her bare V. He could feel her tremble under his lips as he pushed open her legs and brought his moist mouth down on her.

"Jane!" she whispered loudly.

"Shh," he told her, lifting his head from between her legs.

He lowered his head once again and darted out his tongue, lapping her gently as she heaved and pulled his hair tighter. He kissed her inner thighs before he brought his lips back to her warm folds, pressing his mouth into her by pulling on her hips with his strong hands.

"Jesus!" she nearly cried out. Instead, it came out as a muted mutter. "Uh!"

There was a sudden sound from the hallway. It was almost like a creaking floor. The place was old, but Jane had replaced most of the flooring with new wood.

"Wait! Jane!" she told her husband. "I heard something!"

Jane groaned and placed his forehead against her belly. "Lisbon, it's just the house. It's an old frame."

"But-"

He leaned his mouth back down and clamped over her once again to assure her that whatever was making that sound wasn't as important as what he was doing to her right now.

Lisbon groaned loudly as his tongue found her sweet spot. She instantly forgot about the sound she heard as all thoughts left her mind and she became putty under her husband's wicked tongue.

"Damn," she murmured, closing her eyes and blocking out the world for pure pleasure cascading over her.

* * *

"Shit!" Tony silently mouthed.

The knife had fallen from his hand as he was taking in the show in the bedroom. Teresa had heard it, but Tony was thankful that her husband was enjoying his midnight snack too much to go check it out.

It was as he was picking up his knife that he saw a small night light coming from the room down the hall. He left them to finish their sex as he ventured into the small room across the hall, looking around at all the blue and silver in the room. It was some kind of nursery.

Tony De Santis gently pushed open the door and saw a baby crib situated across the room. He crept up to the crib that sat against the back wall and peered in. Well, holy shit! It was a baby sleeping! This must be their kid. Her kid. The words above the crib spelled out MIKEY in blue.

Tony put away his knife and reached in for the sleeping child. "Well, Mikey. I think you just became a very interesting pawn in your mommy's business with me."

Tony cradled the child to his chest and walked over to the rocking chair in which sat a vested teddy bear. Mikey's Mr. Stuffins, or as Mikey called it: _'tuffins_. He laughed at the stupid bear, grabbed it and walked over to peer in the hallway to see if the coast was clear. When he saw it was, Tony walked softly down the hall and past the room in which they were still having sex. Very loudly now, as it would have it. He walked to the front door, pushing it open quietly, and sneaked out in the quiet, dark night with Teresa's child.

* * *

He pushed into his wife again before releasing. He groaned against her breasts as he collapsed on top of her, panting. He felt her squeeze his butt and push him hard into her as they shuddered from the orgasm.

"That was amazing," she told him, feeling him pull out and roll off her. "Wow."

"Wow, yourself."

"We haven't had sex like this in a while," said Lisbon. "I mean, with me working late and the baby."

"Feels good to be back," Jane laughed.

"Feels good to have you back," she answered, kissing him.

"And to have moved on with our lives, eh? You know, after everything that happened last year in Vegas, I mean" Jane asked her quietly.

"Yes," she said honestly. Remembering how hard it had been on her when Jane had been taken. Those two days having been the worse she had ever gone through.

"It was made a mess," Jane told her. "Danny shouldn't have concerned you. You shouldn't have come to Vegas to find me."

Lisbon turned her head up at him and inclined it. "Why? You were in trouble and you're my husband. I am a cop! It's what we do."

"You have Mikey, Lisbon. You don't just get up and run when I am in trouble. Think about the baby," he whispered to her. "What if something bad had happened to you? What then?"

She raised herself up on one elbow and blinked at her husband. Was he really getting into this now? How did the conversation go from great sex to Danny and the Vegas trip? She shook her head without looking at him.

"Did you not understand the part of our vows where we said we'd protect each other? Because I do!" She was getting upset now. "I went to Vegas to get my husband back! So he could be the father to our son!"

"You took a needless risk, Teresa. You have to admit that at least. Danny would have gotten me out of it somehow."

"Danny had to tell me! He told me you were in trouble. Are you serious, right now, Patrick Jane?" She thumped him on his chest with her hand. "I can't believe you! We just have sex and now you want to chastise my decision to save your ass? You couldn't have said this before I chose to sleep with you tonight?"

"Teresa, please! I was just telling you my honest thoughts. You always said you wanted honesty and I was giving that to you. I am not saying I don't appreciate you coming for me. I am very glad you did. I am just saying it was a very risky thing to do when we have a child at home." He knew he upset her. That was the last thing he wanted to happen.

"Screw you, Jane!" Lisbon told him, thumping him again across the chest. "I was thinking about our son! How dare you suggest I wasn't!" She scooted herself backward out of the bed.

"Teresa! Love! Come on!" Jane pleaded with her as he watched her walk across the room and put on her robe. "I didn't—I'm sorry!"

"We were having a great time, Jane. Way to ruin it."

"Love, where are you going?" Jane asked. "I'm really sorry. Just come back to bed. I'll make it up to you."

"I need to check on my son. No thanks," she shook her head at him. "I think I am good." She huffed out of the room, her voice cracking slightly with emotion leaving Jane lying alone in their bed.

* * *

Tony opened the unlocked car door and layed the sleeping kid inside on the back seat, throwing Mikey's baby blanket in too along with his teddy bear. The toddler was still sleeping as he moved around the car that stood behind some trees on the property. He looked back at the house, but all was still eerily quiet.

He pulled out his cell phone and dialed Max's number. After a few rings, Max answered with a sleepy voice. "Max! Get your ass over to Oklahoma City now! I will text you an address. Don't use the toll booths! I've got a something important I need you to take care of."

He hung up on him without waiting for an answer. Tony looked down at the sleeping child as he put away his phone. The kid was starting to stir. He just sighed and shook his head. "This was supposed to be about your ma. You were just there at the wrong time, sorry kid."

Tony closed the door to the back seat and walked around to the driver's side. He got in, started the car. Eleven months locked up all because that cop bitch couldn't just let things be or keep her nose out of his business! If it hadn't been for all the blackmail tape, he'd still be serving sloppy joes in the cafeteria of the state penitentiary, for god knows how many years.

He was running so hot it was unreal. He wanted Teresa Lisbon, her husband and that goddamn goofy Danny Ruskin gone and if he had to use the kid as a message that he ment serious business, then he would. He had no issues with that. The kid was just collateral damage.

"Mama!" the little boy in the back seat cried out.

"Mommy's not here," he told the kid snidely, laughing as he drove off down the road.

* * *

Lisbon moved herself across the hall and opened the nursery door the rest of the way. She padded quietly across Mikeys room to his crib. She didn't think it was odd that she hadn't heard her son. He was a quiet baby and always slept well through the nightshade days . She walked over to his crib and peered down to find it empty.

"Mikey?" she whispered. "Mikey?" A little louder. "MIKEY! JANE! MIKEY'S GONE!". Her frantic cries and screaming brought Jane running across the hall and into his room. He ran over to his son's crib to find it empty.

"Stay here!" Jane told his wife.

Lisbon could hear Jane tearing through the house looking for any signs of their son. After a few minutes of silence, Jane ran back into the nursery with the house phone in his hand. "He's gone, Teresa! Michael is missing!" Jane told her, panicking, his eyes misting with shaky tears.

"WHERE IS MY SON?" Lisbon cried, nearly collapsing onto the floor. Jane helped his wife to the rocking chair in the corner and dialed Abbotts' number.

"You got to help us. They took our baby! They took Mikey!"

"NO! NOT MY SON!" Lisbon screamed.

Jane knelt down beside her and put a hand on her back in comfort. It was the only thing he could provide as the tears fell from his eyes and his body shuddered and shook in panic and shock.

"Mikey," Jane whispered, placing his head in his wife's lap. "Omigod, Mikey."


	2. Chapter 2

6 hours later...

The shiny black BMW turned down the bumpy dirt track, highlighting the dark, dusty gravel road ahead. Driving down the road for a few minutes, the car eventually pulled up to a clearing where an old, red pickup truck was sitting, completely covered in the shadows. The driver of the truck flashed the headlights twice to acknowledge their arrival.

Max quietly stepped out of the BMW, running his hand nervously through his slicked gel hair, before buttoning up his Italian designer jacket. Moving towards the old truck, he heard the sound of the drivers door creaking open and a shadowy figure jumping out. Max swallowed nervously again, stopping when the dark figure came into full view in the blinding headlights. Standing a few feet in front of him was a beautiful woman. She was in her mid-forties, 5'6, long, dark, black hair tied loosely in a ponytail. She had dark hazelnut eyes and was dressed in blue Levi's and a tight fitting clad shirt. She smiled warmly, sighing verbally when her eyes finally met his.

"Hello, Max," said the attractive woman, her voice full of warmth and affection.

"Hello, Stella. You're looking good. I wasn't sure if you got my message or not."

"Yeah, I got it. What are you doing here? And why am I meeting you in the middle of the night out in the sticks?"

"I need your help," Max stated seriously. He stepped closer to her, placing his hands gently on her upper arms and letting her see his anguish illuminated by the light of the neon headlights.

"Look, if this has anything to do with that sick son of a bitch, De Santis, then I don't want to be part of it. I won't risk my life. We both know if Tony knew I was still alive, we would both end up dead in a ditch somewhere."

"Please, Stel! I have no one else to turn to," Max said pleadingly, trying to make Stella understand.

"I won't put my life at risk or my son's... Our son's," Stella snapped, turning her head away trying to remain strong.

"And you won't! I promise you that. I won't allow anything to happen to either of you." Max lifted her chin back up with his finger so she could see his words were a sincere promise. "How is the boy?"

"The boy?" Stella stepped back from Max's hold, annoyed he couldn't even address his own son by name. "His name is Jackson, Max. And... And he is good. Really good. A normal happy-well, as happy as a stroppy teenager can be. He just made the football team at school," Stella replied. a little softer with a mother's pride laced in her voice.

"That's good. Really good," Max said, dipping his head and nodding sadly. "And How's the stables? Going well?"

"Cut the crap, Max. What do you need from me?" Stella stepped away further from him putting an abrupt stop to their painful small talk and wanting the truth from the man she had loved.

"I need you to look after something for me. Just for a few weeks. That's all I am asking." Max turned back towards the BMW. He opened the back door of the car, leaning down to get out whatever he was planning on giving her.

"Look, if it is drugs or guns, then you can just get back in that flashy car of yours and..." Stella's voice trailed off when she saw Max standing upright carrying a sleeping baby in his arms. Walking back to where Stella was standing, he spoke softly so as to not to wake the child. "I need you to look after him for me." Max handed Mikey over to a stunned Stella.

"It's a baby?" She said, staring down at the beautiful toddler now sleeping peacefully in her arms.

"I see there's still no flies on you Stella," Max replied sarcastically.

"Is he yours?" Stella snapped, not even bothering to disguise her jealous tone.

"No. He isn't mine," Max said smiling a little, flattered by her open jealousy.

"Is he Tony's?" she inquired.

"No. Trust me. Definitely not Tony's."

"Oh my god, he took this child, didn't he!?" Stella asked, her protective mother instinct pulling the innocent baby closer to her.

"Look, Stella, it's best you don't ask me any more questions, okay? Just keep him safe for me and keep your head down. Don't let nobody know you have the kid, okay?"

"But..."

"Stella, please! Just do this one thing for me, okay? No questions." Max raised his voice slightly. "Here, here's some money," Max handed over two large piles of cash. "Get anything you need. Give him whatever he needs. I will be in touch soon. But don't say anything to anyone, okay? Do you understand me?" When Stella didn't reply, he repeated himself louder. "Do you understand?"

Stella nodded her head and watched as Max turned back to the BMW.

"Wait!" Stepping forward she pulled a picture out of her back pocket. "I thought you might want this. It's the most recent picture I have of Jack. It was taken last month."

Max hesitated before taking the photograph from her hand. He exhaled a deep breath taking a look at his son who he hadn't seen since he had been born 15 years ago. "Thanks, sweetheart."

"You know you could always stay. You don't need to go back there to him. You could stay here with me, and Jack. He needs his father."

"I wish it was that easy, baby. Besides, you two have survived great without me for the last sixteen years. I am not cut out for the domestic family life. You would be kicking my ass out the door before I could get my feet under the table." Max chuckled in an attempt to hide the real pain and heartbreak he was feeling.

He wished he could have been a better man for her, for their son, but he couldn't. He or Tony would end up destroying everything he loved if he stayed. Even though every last part of him wanted to.

"Yeah, you're probably right," Stella replied, tears filling her eyes. She knew Max loved her, but she and her son just wasn't enough for him and that fact still hurt, even though she had come to terms with it years ago.

"His name is Mikey." Max moved closer, placing a loving kiss on Stella's forehead. "I have to go. It's a long drive back. Thanks, Stella I won't forget this. I will be in touch in a few weeks. Just take care of yourself... And Jackson."

Stella stood watching as her absent husband reversed the brand new shiny black BMW out of the side track, back up onto the main road. The baby boy shifted a little in her arms, snuggling closer to her body for the body warmth.

Wrapping the blanket more tightly around his little shoulders, Stella headed back to her truck. "Come on, little man. Let's get you back and tucked up in bed," She whispered, placing kisses on his blonde curly head, hoping she could keep the boy safe and away from a vicious animal like De Santis.

* * *

Present time...

Within twenty-seven minutes of discovering Mikey missing, their new cabin and their twenty-four acres of surrounding land was filled with law enforcement officers. Flashing red and blue lights from the top of their cars reflected brightly off the still lake surrounded by black SUV vehicles. Abbott had called in all local PD as well as half the FBI office in Austin.

"Okay. Yep, tell local PD to get every available unit down here now. Make no excuses. We need all the backup assistance we can with this one." Abbott stepped back into the newly built cabin to see Lisbon was standing looking out the window, nervously biting her nails whilst Jane was sitting calmly perched on the leather couch in deep thought. Adams and Cho were stood near the door, looking worriedly over at the two colleagues.

"Okay, so let's go over what actually happened. You both went to be bed just past midnight?" Abbott asked. Jane remained silent focused on the spot on the floor in front of him.

Lisbon inhaled a deep breath trying her hardest to put her professional Agent hat on. "We went to bed just before midnight, I checked in on Mikey like I always do and he was sleeping soundly."

"Then what happened? How did you discover he was gone?"

"An hour later, I checked on him again and he was gone!" Lisbon said, her voice breaking. She moved herself over to the couch where Jane was sitting.

"What made you go check on him?" Cho asked.

"I was frustrated and angry. We had a fight and I stormed into Mikey's room." Lisbon diverted her eyes away from Cho's, embarrassed to be airing her marriage issues in public so openly with her teammates.

"So, you were both awake when he was taken? Did either of you hear anything?" Abbott sat down opposite Jane hoping it would bring him out of his trance-like state.

"Yes. Yes, I did hear something, but we ignored it. Oh my god," Lisbon said, gasping and bringing her hand up to her mouth in horror.

"Why did you ignore it?" Cho asked directly.

"I... we... uh..." Lisbon stuttered, feeling her professional Agent hat slipping and cold dread filling her body.

"We were making love," Jane said bluntly. "Teresa thought she may have heard something, but we thought it was just the cabins old framework. It creaks sometimes," Jane said calmly for the first time since the questioning had started still not looking up at anyone.

"I did hear something. I told you so. I told you I heard something." Lisbon walked around from the back couch to face her husband, her clear distress turning into slight anger. Sensing emotions were running high, Abbott steered the questions back to Mikey.

"Okay. Let's get back to when you found Mikey missing. Did you see anything unusual? Notice anything out of the ordinary? Has he ever climbed out of the crib before?"

"Look, he hasn't wandered off, Dennis. We need to be out there looking for him. Not sitting here discussing what happened or answering mundane questions that waste the precious time we may not have!" Jane stood up focusing all his attention now on Abbott.

"Uh, sorry to interrupt, boss, but the Aquatic team has arrived." Wylie had appeared in the doorway of the cabin glancing sympathetically over to his two frantic friends.

"Aquatic team?" Lisbon asked as she ran over to the large window facing the lake, clearly confused by what was happening.

"We need to search all avenues, Teresa. There is a possibility Mikey may have got out of the house and there is a deep lake is a few feet away."

"Wait, wait! This is beyond ridiculous. Mikey has been taken. Okay? Forget the Aquatic team! Get them out there looking for suspicious vehicles on the road" Jane stated loudly, shaking his head in disbelief at Abbott's line of thinking.

"You don't know that for sure, Jane."

"Yes, I do. My son hasn't gone for a midnight swim, Dennis! The front door was securely locked! He is half a foot high. He might be able to climb up on this coffee table, but he isn't an Olympic gymnast or lock pick at eighteen-months-old. They took Mr. Stuffins with him. He has been taken, Abbott. Trust me."

"Okay. Let's all try and calm down. We have to do all the right procedures with a missing child. We have to explore every-"

"Fuck the procedures! This is my son, goddamn it, Dennis!" Everyone, including Jane, turned to look at Lisbon's outburst, all a little stunned by her strong language. "Some lunatic out there has come in my house and taken him as some form of revenge, no doubt. You need to be looking at any Blake members to see if any of them has been released in the last few days."

Jane stepped forward over to his wife, but she stopped him in his tracks as she stormed away across the room.

"DON'T! Okay? Just don't." Jane could read her state of mind and it was clear she was blaming him for what was happening.

Abbott sat watching as his two friends edge closer to breaking point and needed someone else to take control. "Wylie, cross reference any cases Jane and Lisbon have worked on, see if anything flags up. Check if any of the convicted has been released from prison in the last few weeks. Also, get all Blake Members association whereabouts. Cho, speak to Local PD and get a recent picture of Mikey out there and see if they can pull over any vehicles driving around. Mikey has been gone for approximately thirty-seven minutes, and it's early hours of the morning so there can't be too many cars driving with young children on the roads. Also, get PD to check if there has been any other missing children reports or any other children gone missing in the last few months." Cho nodded at Abbott's orders, moving swiftly out of the cabin to speak with Local PD.

"This is someone we know wanting revenge. I can just feel it. What about Erica Flynn, though? Was she still angry at me and Jane for tricking her back in Lebanon? We took her freedom and her fun," Lisbon said bitterly, looking over at Jane, remembering how the sexy killer had made another open play for her husband. She moved over to Wylie who was now setting up his laptop at the dining table.

"It's not Erica," Jane replied, pacing the floor in deep thought and tapping his finger against his lips. "It's just not her style. It's almost too simple. Too brazen for the likes of her. She is more devious than this."

"Unbelievable! I should have known you wouldn't want to believe your ex-girlfriend is involved," Lisbon mumbled angrily under her breath.

"She isn't my ex-girlfriend Teresa. She never was," Jane spat as he stopped pacing, annoyed by the fact she was letting her unnecessary, petty jealousy rear its head at this particular moment in time. Lisbon cut her eye away, looking back down at Wylie's laptop, trying her hardest not to let her anger take control of her.

"Okay. What about Red John, then?"

"What!" Jane said loudly, astonished by his wife's ridiculous question.

"Well, this could be related to him," Lisbon stated, her focus back turning back on Abbott ignoring Jane glaring at her.

"Red John is dead. He didn't kidnap his victims, Teresa. He cut their throats and sliced them open, remember? He is dead."

"Is he? How do you know that? I mean, you thought you killed him once before and turned out it wasn't him! So how do you know for sure McAllister was? Huh? He could just be another disciple. You don't know!" Lisbon said frantically, as the thought that maybe they had been totally wrong in thinking the red John fiasco was truly dead and buried.

"I DO KNOW! McAllister was Red John. I hunted the guy for ten years! He told me so himself. He confessed to murdering my family. I killed him, Teresa. He is gone forever. He is dead. It's over," Jane replied, not giving a damn that his fellow teammates were now witness to their fight.

"Then why has my son been taken? Huh?" Lisbon shouted back, tears visibly streaming down her face. Her body trembled with anger and fear. Lisbon was a person who liked to be in control. It was a way of channeling her emotions down, but with her baby son missing, it was making her feel like the ground was crumbling beneath her feet and her world was drenched in utter darkness.

Jane stood staring at his crying wife desperately wanting to comfort her; to be able to tell her this was all going to be okay, but he couldn't. He had no idea what was going on or why after three years of a peaceful and tranquil happy life together, it was now suddenly crashing down around them.

Deciding her anger wasn't helping her think straight, and not wanting to say anything they may later regret, Jane strode over to the front door. "I am going to help find our son." With that he stormed out of the cabin slamming the screen door hard behind him.

Lisbon stood watching as her husband walked away. The next sound she heard was the sound of sobbing and it took a second to realize it was her own. The feeling of Adams warm embrace engulfed her and she openly accepted it, sobbing silently on her friends shoulder.

"Adams, why don't you go get Lisbon a large stiff drink," Abbott said gently. Adams slowly guided Lisbon towards the kitchen whilst Abbott followed Jane out of the house to help with Austin's PD search around the house.

Abbott sighed loudly. He wasn't sure who he was more concerned for at that moment: Jane's mental state or Lisbon's. One thing was certain, in cases that involved a missing child, time was of the essence. It had already been forty-two minutes since they had discovered baby Mikey missing and things were only getting worse.

* * *

After ten minutes, Abbott had dispatched most the available FBI agents and local PD units to the surrounding roads and areas Wylie came rushing out the cabin.

"Sir! I think I may have something."

Abbott and Jane, who stood watching the scuba team emerging from the lake, ran back inside the cabin. Adams and Lisbon also headed back to the living area having heard Wylie shouting.

"I did a search of all past cases and Jane and Lisbon have worked on, and at first nothing flagged up. A Mr. Gary Philo was released two years ago, but I didn't feel that this guy would wait that long and according to his parole officer, he is now living in Seattle with his father who suffered a stroke six months ago and is his prime care-"

"Get on with it, Wylie," Cho said coldly.

"Uh, yeah, sure. Of course. Well, when searching old closed cases came to a dead end I decided to look at more recent cases, you know FBI cases and one flagged up in particular." Spinning the laptop to show his colleagues the computer screen. "Antonio De Santis was released four days ago. DA office had dropped all charges on him on the basis of lost and inconsistent evidence, apparently. He's out and a free man. In fact, according to records, he opens a new exclusive strip club here in Austin tomorrow night."

Seeing Lisbon's face paling at the sight of De Santis mug shot appearing on the screen, Jane moved to her side. Her breathing was becoming more erratic with each passing word as she stepped back slightly swaying unsteadily in her feet. Jane pulled her into his arms, gripping her face with his large hand, getting her to focus directly into his eyes and trying to distract her from the full blown panic attack about to engulf her.

"Listen to me, Teresa. It's going to be all right, love. Teresa, look at me! We will find him! We will get Mikey back, okay? And then when he is back safe with us, I will take this bastard down for good. Okay? I promise you that. Okay? I promise we will get Mikey back."

Lisbon bottom lip trembled as Jane tenderly brushed a tear away from her face. His face now showing her he was fully determined and in control since they had found Mikey had disappeared. She nodded her head, unable to form words in reply but focusing on her husband's deep blue eyes and believing in every single word he was promising her and knowing he would get their son back.

* * *

"So? Did you take the kid somewhere he won't be found?" Tony asked eagerly, pulling open the hotel door to allow Max to enter.

"It's already done. The kid is well hidden."

"Good. Are you sure that you can trust them? This guy that you know?"

"Yeah. No one will find the kid. I promise."

"Okay, that's good. It won't be for very long, anyway."

"Just till we get the money, then we are sending the kid back right?" Max asked, concerned that Tony now had other plans in mind for the baby.

"Mmmm, we will see." Tony took a large sip of his whiskey, staring out of the hotel window not elaborating any further on the subject.

Max shifted in discomfort, not liking the sound of Tony's uncertain statement. Max always knew Tony had a sick, sadistic streak which is why he had suggested he take the baby somewhere away. He had taken him to Stella's where he knew the baby would be safe at least and away from his crazy boss.

"Well, in the meantime I think we should have some fun with our little bitch cop. Don't you?" Tony turned, placing his glass down on the table and reaching down into his duffel bag.

"What are you going to do?"

"Well, let's send her this for a start shall we?" Tony pulled out the Mikey's vested teddy bear from his bag, smiling mischievously. "What's the going rate for an FBI Agent's kid these days?"

"Big money, I reckon," Max said, making a whistling sound at the amount of dollars signs flashing forward in his mind.

"Lovely. I am opening two new exclusive clubs this month. Every penny helps, Maxxy. Lost a bomb when the fucking FEDS shut down my clubs in Vegas. Besides, I said I was going make Agent Lisbon pay, and I meant that in every sense of the word."

Tony throw the bear up in the air, catching it in his hand before throwing over at Max. "Get that bear sent back to the bitch asking for three million. Let's see how she and FED's handle that!"

"Don't you think you should just lay low for the next few days? You know, just till the dust settles. I mean, they are bound to come looking for you when they know you're out the of the slammer. The club here in Oklahoma City has only been open a month and both Austin and Dallas' new clubs open this week. We don't want the FEDS sniffing around and shutting it down already, do we?" Max asked, looking down at the child's toy his hand.

"Meh. Let them come, Max. They ain't got nothing on me. I am a free man and this is a legitimate business. I am just a rich business man opening his new strip clubs in a new city. They can't even touch me. Trust me on that. You worry too much." De Santis leaned forward, slapping Max playfully on the cheek. "Come on, we need to get down to Dallas for this big opening event tomorrow night. I am the VIP guest."

Max sighed, following a cocky looking De Santis out of the luxury hotel suite. Tony's time in the clink had clearly sent him more over the edge and made his thinking unhinged. Kidnapping children was serious enough, but taking an FBI agent kid was a whole different ball game. Max knew they were playing with fire this time round and if they weren't more careful they would end up the ones being burned.

* * *

 **Thank you to all the Reviews, faves and favourites we really do appreciate it. (We did say it would be a interesting ride! Hope you enjoyed this, despite the awful agony our beloved duo are going through. ;)**


	3. Chapter 3

Two Days Later...

The nondescript box sat on Lisbon's desk as she came in to see if any leads had been connected since her son went missing. She had to do something. She had to keep busy. Going to work was something Teresa Lisbon had to do in order to remain sane enough to be strong.

"That came for you this afternoon," Wylie told her, pointing to the box. "Didn't say who sent it."

Lisbon nodded her head in thanks to Wylie and watched her husband as he spoke to Cho from the corner of her eye. Things were so stressed at home. Neither had been sleeping or eating much, and they had been quiet to each other. Their conversations were just a mix of sobs from her and angry groans from him. Things were deteriorating when they were supposed to be strong together.

Lisbon nodded her head in thanks and put her hands on the box. Her fingers were shaking with frayed nerves as she reached over and took a pair of scissors from the can on her desk. Using them, she opened the box by cutting the packing tape. She opened the flaps and reached inside.

She felt something soft with her fingers. She felt familiar buttons between her fingers and gasped. Pulling out the stuffed bear that belonged to her son, she gasped and looked over at Jane, who was already on his way to her.

"It's his bear, Jane! It's Mr. Stuffins!"

Lisbon stifled a sob as she hugged the vested teddy bear to her breast. Jane hugged his wife and put a soothing hand to her head.

"Shh, Teresa," he said softly. "Teresa, there's a note pinned to the back of the bear."

She pushed the bear from her chest and let Jane took hold of it. She watched with a thudding heart against her rib cage as Jane unpinned the piece of paper from the bear. Glancing at Jane, she swallowed the lump in her throat as he read it out loud:

WE HAVE YOUR SON.

THREE MILLION DOLLARS IN EXCHANGE FOR HIS SAFE RETURN.

FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS IN THE LETTER YOU RECIEVE IN TWO DAYS TIME.

DO ANYTHING STUPID AND WE GIVE THE COMMAND TO END HIS LIFE.

It wasn't signed, but Lisbon and Jane thought they knew exactly who had sent it. Without any proof, however, there was nothing they could do. Abbott couldn't even find De Santis, and even if he could, there was nothing to tie him to Mikey's disappearance.

"Get this down to fingerprints," Cho told Wylie, standing and taking the paper at its corner from Jane with a tissue. "Tell them to rush this and put it at the top of their list. This, too." He took the vested stuffed animal from Jane and handed it over. "Tell them to check the fabric on it."

"You won't find anything on it," Lisbon sobbed. "He's too careful."

"We are going to do everything we can in trying to catch him, Teresa. You can believe that," Cho told her. "You need to take your wife home. She's a mess. She needs sleep," he said, turning to Jane. "Her being here isn't helping anyone."

"What makes you think I can sleep, Kimball? My son is missing!" Lisbon snapped, tears falling from her eyes.

She was so broken. They both were. But she was falling apart while Jane was trying to glue himself together. He turned her into his chest and smoothed her hair with his palm.

"He's right, Teresa. You have to try to sleep. You have to be strong," Jane whispered in his wife's ear. "Come on. I'll take you home."

Lisbon didn't fight her husband. She let him lead her to the elevators and let the doors close on everything. She knew she wouldn't sleep, but being at home, so close to her son's things gave her comfort. It gave her something to hold onto. But the last part of the ransom note struck her to the core.

Or we give the command to end his life.

* * *

His eyes flickered to the flashing numbers of the clock on the nightstand. He sighed, rolled over, and found that his wife wasn't beside him. He wasn't surprised at this. She hadn't even wanted to lie down, but he had coaxed her to at least attempt some. She was tired and fragile. He needed her to be strong and put together for their son.

He rose from the bed and shuffled in the dark into the hall. He knew where she was. He didn't have to call out her name or wonder what room she was in. He walked across the hall and opened the door to the nursery. There she was, hovering over his empty crib, looking down at where she had last seen her son.

"Teresa, you should be sleeping," he told her, walking up behind her. "You need to be alert and focused. You can't do that if you're dead on your feet." His voice was soft and low.

"Stop trying to get me to sleep!" she said loudly. "How can I sleep when our child is somewhere out there alone and scared?"

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "I didn't mean to upset you, Teresa."

She turned to him, tears falling from her already puffy eyes. She put her hands on his bare chest and looked up at him with sad eyes.

"No, I'm sorry. I'm already a nervous wreck, Jane," she told him. "It's not your fault."

"He'll be okay," Jane told her. "I can feel it."

He could feel her fingertips on his chest, warm and gentle. He looked at her and thought he saw a flicker there. Something familiar and something he equally felt. Suddenly, he didn't know what he was doing. One moment he was holding her and trying to soothe her, and the next he was crushing her against his body, letting her feel every curve of him and kissing her fiercely on the mouth, his lips crushing hers and his hand sliding around to push the material of her shirt aside to press the palm of his hand to the laced cup of her breast.

She closed her eyes and felt his warm hand roll her sensitive skin over and over and she melted into him, opening her mouth to deepen the kiss, her mouth feverish against his and turning her body into flames against him. She moaned against his mouth, opening her eyes as his lips left hers and he buried his face in her neck to nuzzle her gently.

It was when she saw the nursery wall decorations with clouds and elephants on them that she gasped and pushed on his chest hard, pushing him from her violently, his hand ripped her shirt as it pulled against the material. She watched him stumble and recapture his footing, his face a mix of surprise and shame.

She wiped the corner of her mouth with her hand and shook her head over and over. "What are we doing? Why would you do that? Oh, my God! What kind of parents are we? huh?!"

"Teresa, I'm sorry!" Jane tried to apologize as she ran around him and from the room. "I just thought-"

He chased after her, but she slammed the bedroom door in his face. He tried the knob, but she had locked it. He knocked on it gently at first. When she didn't answer, he rapped on it loudly.

"Teresa, I'm sorry! Please open the door," he said through the wood. "We can talk."

He heard the door lock click and the door open. He was about to walk inside when he was struck by a pillow, which fell to his feet, and a cover, which he caught in his hands. The door slammed shut once again and locked. He groaned, reached down to pick up the pillow and made his way to the couch.

He hated himself for this. He had pushed too far. He had wanted to comfort her, to find comfort from her and it hadn't been the best way to do it. He placed the pillow and cover on the couch and sighed. He was being useless. He had to do something! He had to get Mikey back. If they couldn't get Tony conventionally, they would do it Jane's way. Jane would hold no mercy for those who held his son.

Jane rose and walked to the bathroom to get his clothes off the floor and dress. If they couldn't make Tony come to them, he'd bring himself to Tony De Santis. He'd go back to Vegas and bring that son of a bitch back.

* * *

"Did you do what I said?" Tony asked Max. "You send that bitch what I told you to?"

Max nodded his head at Tony and motioned to with his thumb, telling Tony it was sent. Tony smiled and clapped him on the shoulder. "Good man," his boss told him. "I want to meet these people you've entrusted with the kid, Max. It's not that I don't trust you," he added. "It's that this kid is my pawn. I need to know I have that trust."

Max was starting to sweat. Tony was demanding to see who had the kid, and he couldn't just take him out to see Stells. Tony didn't even know Max never killed Stella like he was ordered to all those years ago. If he knew, he'd kill them both. No questions asked. Max had to act fast.

"They want a cut of whatever you get for the kid or they won't hand him over," Max lied. "I said I knew them, not that they'd take the kid for free."

Tony's face contorted. "Fuck them. You tell those snot-nosed fuckers I want to meet them or they don't get shit," he said. Max's plan backfired. He nodded his head and sighed. "Okay, Tony. Okay."

"You set up the meeting. Tell them to bring that little shit with them. If all goes well, I'll give them the cut. Greedy bastards." Max stole a few minutes away from Tony to place a call to Stella. She answered on the second ring.

"Hey Stel, How is the kid?" Max asked. "He doing okay?"

"He's real good, Max. He's a real good tot. I bought him some Cherrios, a sippy cup or two and some new clothes. He cries, though, Max. He misses his momma."

"I have a problem, Stel. Tony wants to meet who has the kid. It can't be you. You know that. He won't take any excuse, I tried."

She was silent on the other end of the phone for a minute. Then: "I can have a few friends from the bar who could do it. Nichols and Lance. Just give me some time. Tomorrow at the earliest," she told him. "Max?"

"Yes?"

"Tell me this kid is going back to his parents? Please? Just tell me this is true?"

"I'll do whatever I can, Stel. I'll do whatever I can. If you can get those guys to do it, you'll be helping the cause." Max could hear the infant crying in the background. Stella told him she had to go.

"I love you, Stel. You know that right?."

"I do," she told him. "I'll call you tomorrow."

She hung up and Max stuffed his phone in his pocket. He hoped what he said to Stella was right. He hoped he could stop whatever shit Tony was going to do. But he just didn't know. Tony wasn't all there empathy wise.

"You make the call?" Tony asked a few minutes later as Max strolled back into the room.

"They're going to call me tomorrow," he answered. "Give us a spot to meet."

"Good." Tony smiled widely. "Things are falling into place."

* * *

It was still late when Jane arrived at De Santis' Vegas house a few hours later. Using his lockpick set, he picked the lock on the back door, checking the windows to make sure nobody was nearby.

Stepping inside, Jane closed the door behind him and turned to look around. The kitchen was large and clean. He knew he'd find nothing of use here. He walked through the kitchen and immediately made his way upstairs. He knew if De Santis kept anything of his son's or anything related to his cohorts, it would be in a locked place far away from view.

Jane poked his head inside the first two room, one which was a half-bath, and the other was a guest bedroom. Nothing would be in either of those. He moved on to the next room. This one seemed more promising. He saw a large Oak armoire against the wall, a giant king-sized bed in the middle, and a bathroom off to the side. This had to be De Santis' room.

Jane touched nothing with his hands. He had learned from experience that if his fingerprints were found here without a warrant, anything he found would be thrown out. He looked around the room, taking out a latex glove he took from Lisbon's first aid kit in the bathroom and put it on, snapping it to his hand like an eager surgeon.

He started with the oak armoire, opening the doors and finding tacky leopard prints and leather straps and collars that certainly weren't meant for dogs He pushed aside everything, but only found the back of the piece of furniture. He closed the doors and moved toward the stand alone dresser on the one side. He opened the drawers, but again found expensive clothing and tacky underpants.

His attention fell to a large mural of De Santis on the wall in a frame. When Jane moved it, he found a hollowed out part of the wall behind it.

"Bingo!" he said, reaching in and pulling out papers and pictures.

He shuffled through them, but nothing jumped out at him. Most of it was just from his business dealings. There were, however, pictures of some of his associates. If he couldn't find anything to do with Mikey, he'd bring down his inner circle and make them talk. One such picture was labeled in the back: MAX AND ME, GRAND OPENING. It was of them standing in front of the strip club De Santis owned.

Jane took out his phone and snapped a picture of the photo. He replaced everything and slipped back out the same door he entered. He couldn't stay long. He didn't know how long De Santis would be gone.

Now came the hard part. Breaking it to his angry, emotional and stressed wife where he had been. Something told him she wouldn't be happy.

* * *

"You did what?" she yelled, finally opening the bedroom door the next morning after he told her what he did and where he had been all night. "Are you insane? Don't answer that!"

"I couldn't sit back and wait for nothing to happen, Teresa! I am trying to find our son!" he replied. "I want to bring Mikey home to us!"

"By going and snooping around in the man's house who probably has him? Who wouldn't think twice of..." She couldn't finish the sentence. "That was the stupidest thing you have done, Patrick Jane!"

She tried to slam the door back in his face, but he kept it open with his hands. He looked at her and sighed.

"It wasn't the best idea, admittedly, but I was careful, Teresa. He wasn't even home, doesn't look like he has been there for months," he assured her.

"Oh, that makes me feel so much better!" she said sardonically.

"I found something! An associate of his. If we can find him, he may tell us some information. It's a start, Teresa."

He held up his phone with the picture on it that he took and shook it in front of her. It was the lead they needed. Lisbon eyes scanned the picture instantly recognising the man from when De Santis had held her hostage.

"You still could have put our son in jeopardy!"

"Please, Teresa!"

"Leave me alone!" she said, starting to sob. "JUST GET OUT! GET OUT OF HERE!"

She slammed the door in his face and he let her. He knew she was broken and shattered and was reacting as a mother should. He'd take the information to Wylie. Maybe he could find out who this character is and they could track him down via the NIST database.

"I'm going to the FBI office, Teresa," he said through the door. "I'll be back."

"DON'T BOTHER!" she replied angrily.

He sighed and turned to leave. He understood her anger. He wished he could make it better. The truth was he hoped what he snapped for Wylie would be enough. If not, he didn't know what he would do. He was breaking into fragile bits and pieces.

* * *

It was a half hour later that he was sitting next to Wylie and they were searching the NIST. "Let's see," Wylie told him, scanning the photo of Max into the database. "If he has a record, he'll pop up."

"I hope so, Jason. Teresa is breaking," he said sadly. "I am, too."

"Here is a good likeness, Jane. Name, Eugiene Maxwell Sheffield. Drugs, guns, aggrivated assault. He has been arrested with Tony De Santis in the past. Married to Stella Otero, now Stella Sheffield. Hey! Look, he is Matthew Newman's uncle, you know, Tiny, the guy that tried to helped Lisbon last year.

"Does Max have an address on file?"

"Uh," Wylie hesitated. "Yeah."

"Give it to me."

"Jane..."

"Now, Wylie."

"Alright, alright! Four-seventy Concord Drive, Oklahoma City is his last known address. Moved out there when De Santis was first put away."

"That's a ways away from here." Jane sighed.

"It's an hour or two by plane..."

"It's only two hours more if driving by car," Jane told Wylie.

"Okay," Wylie replied.

"Looks like I am going to Oklahoma City."

* * *

After coming back from meeting with Tony and doing some business for the opening of his new strip joint, Max sighed and walked into his dark living room. Flicking on his light, he stopped in his tracks at the sight of Patrick Jane sitting on his couch.

"I've been waiting for you to get home," Jane said gruffly, easing back into the cushions of the leather sofa. "You really should get better locks. A few seconds with my pick set and I was in."

"Look, I don't know what you're here for-" Max began.

Jane rose up so quickly that Max stumbled backwards and fell into the door jamb. He watched him advance on him and Jane reach out a hand to capture his wrist in his grip. He was inches from Max's face.

"You're a fucking liar, Max," Jane told him darkly. "You know where my son is. You know where Tony is. Make this easier on yourself, Max."

"I don't-AHHH HHHUUUU!" Max howled in pain as Jane pushed Max's hand back the wrong way. "Jesus Christ!"

"Please don't lie. It doesn't suit you," Jane told him calmly, still pulling on his wrist. "Want to try that again? Where. Is. My. Son?"

"I don't know!" Max cried out again as Jane pressed back on his wrist even more.

"Do I need to contact Stella and see what she knows?"

"No!" Max yelled, suddenly no longer aware of the pain shooting up his arm. "You can't!

"Why?" Jane twisted his wrist even harder.

"Ahhhhhh... because Tony doesn't know we're married! and He'll kill her!"

Jane smiled widely, evenly. Knowing he now had something to bargain with.

"Listen," Max told him, trying to control the pain. "I don't know, honestly. The best I can do is tell you where Tony is." Tony had said he didn't care if they came to him. His hands were clean. Throwing Tony under the bus would cost him something, but once he knew Max kept his secret about the kid, he'd take some mercy.

"Does he know where my son is?" Jane asked.

"No," Max replied truthfully. Tony had no idea where Stella had Mikey.

"Tell me where this scumbag is," Jane said.

"Let go of me first," Max countered.

Jane eased up but did not let go. He was afraid Max would take off before he gave him the location of Tony.

"Don't trust me?"

"No."

"Fair enough."

And with that Max Sheffield told Jane exactly where he could find one Tony De Santis.

* * *

 **Thank you for all the lovely reviews and follows we really do appreciate it. We hope you enjoy this next chapter. Thank you for your support and reading. :)**


	4. Chapter 4

Lisbon exited the elevator and entered into the busy, noisy bullpen. She knew that all the agents on the first floor had been assigned to work on Mikey's kidnapping case. Being at work made her feel less like a helpless victim waiting at home for the phone to ring. It made her feel like she was at least attempting to help and not be a broken piece. She had to do something. Anything.

She glanced quickly at Jane's couch expecting to find her husband lying on it. She was feeling guilty after having taken her anger out on him about his latest stunt. She knew he had just wanted their son back as much as she did. It cut at her heart that she was being so standoffish with him and causing an even bigger problem to develop besides their missing son. This was the time you were supposed to be there for each other, not fighting or being petty.

She made her way over to her desk and spotted Cho inside of Abbott's office. She sat down, switching on her computer and waiting for it to boot up as she tried to ignore most of the pitying looks from her colleagues. She needed to keep herself busy. Being at home was making her mind think of the worse case scenarios about her son. After a few minutes, Cho and Abbott headed back into the bullpen.

"Hey, Lisbon! You know you didn't need to come in today," Abbott said, greeting her with a sympathetic look. "We have things handled here."

"Thanks, Sir, but I need to keep busy. Where's Jane?" Lisbon craned her neck back toward his couch. "I thought he was supposed to be here."

"Well, we were just about ask you the same thing," Abbott replied peculiarly.

"He said he was heading here this morning. He was going to get Wylie to look up any details on an associate of De Santis." With this information, all three agents turned towards the young agent sitting at his desk fiddling with his computer keys a little too noisily.

"Wylie, have you seen Jane?" Abbott asked.

The young agent swirled nervously around in his chair around to face his superiors. The look on his face told them that he did indeed know where Jane had gone.

"Uh, well... He..."

"Where is he?" Cho asked firmly, seeing Wylie's brain working at trying to come up with a good excuse.

"Oklahoma. He's gone to speak to this De Santis' main guy. Uh, Max Sheffield."

"Jesus, Wylie! And you said nothing?" Lisbon spat quickly, grabbing her coat off the back of her chair. "Do you have any idea what he will do or what he is capable of? Do you?" she said, her coat half-on.

"Okay. Wylie, get a trace on Jane's phone, now. That's an order."

"Yes, sir." Wylie spun back around to face his computer looking ashamed, quickly typing on the keyboard. "Sir, Jane's not in Oklahoma City anymore. According to this, he is now in Dallas, Texas."

"That's only a four-hour drive from here," Cho stated, looking at Abbott for the green light to go find their unstable Consultant.

"Right. Cho, Adams, get to Dallas now. Bring Jane back before he does something stupid." Abbott sighed, watching as his agents jumped into the action, hoping they weren't too late in that respect.

"Yes, Sir."

Cho and Adams immediately headed towards the elevator, quickly followed by a frenetic-looking Lisbon.

Abbott reached his arm out, placing it in the way of Lisbon path stopping her. "Lisbon, I think you should stay here." His tone was soft but authoritative.

"What? Why!?"

"I acknowledge that this is a dreadful time for you. I can't even imagine what you are experiencing as a parent. Your son is missing, and now your husband has gone off, but I think it's best that you are not actively involved in this case. You're too close to all this, Teresa. Besides, Mikey will need one of his parents to be here, not behind bars locked up or hurt even. Please, Teresa, let us deal with Jane. We will go find him and bring him back safely and we will get Mikey back, I promise you. We have Wylie tracing calls and we have agents tailing some of De Santis' men as we speak, and his well-known associates. We are certain will get a new lead anytime, now."

Lisbon stood contemplating Abbott's words, extremely torn between her heart and her head. Deciding that she needed to be strong for her baby son, especially if her husband had gone off the rails, she retreated back to her desk, taking her coat off and folding it across her desk.

"Okay. I will stay." Lisbon looked over at her colleagues waiting for the elevator.

"Cho, bring Jane home. Please don't let him do anything stupid. I can't lose him, too." Lisbon's voice broke as she wiped falling tear from her face. "I don't want to be alone."

"I promise," the agent told her. "I'll bring him home."

* * *

Walking swiftly through the lobby of the five-star hotel, Tony De Santis' voice boomed loudly around the large, open spaced area. "Okay, listen. You tell your guys that-What the fuck?"

Tony voice trailed off as he felt a tight pain grip onto his arm. As he turned to see what was happening, he came face to face with a blond- haired man holding onto him and pulling him in closer.

"Listen to me, Mr. De Santis! You have picked the wrong man and his family to mess with, do you understand me? I know you were involved in taking my son, and I am going to give you this one chance to hand him over."

"Your son? Do I look like a fucking nanny, buddy? I have no idea what you are talking about Mr...?"

"Jane. Patrick Jane."

The mention of his name changed De Santis' face from outrage to a satisfied, smug smile.

"Well, Mr. Patrick Jane, I am sorry to hear your son has been taken, but I have no idea where he is. I can assure you."

Jane carefully studied his face for micro-expressions giving his lie away. Unfortunately, Jane couldn't see it. Either the man was a first-class liar, or he actually didn't know where Mikey currently was. This gave Jane a small sense of relief that wherever his son was, he was still alive at least. Deciding it was time to call his bluff, Jane stepped around him.

"That's funny because your buddy, Max, told me differently."

"You spoke to Max?" De Santis' smug smile dropped, returning his expression back to angry. "Maxxy boy?"

"Yes. How else do you think I found you, Mr. De Santis? Or is it, Mr. Francis, these days?"

De Santis yanked his arm out of Jane's tight grip quickly, replacing his cool arrogant persona from the angry mess it slipped from. "Well, as much fun as this chat has been, Mr. Jane, I have a business meeting I need to get to."

"Give me my son back now, and I may let you live," Jane said roughly, lacing his words with malice.

"Are you threatening me, Mr Jane? Oh, no, that's right! You wouldn't do that because you're married to a Federal Agent. You are in no place to issue those sort of threats. Are you?" De Santis said laughing at Jane.

Jane stepped closer lowering his voice. His eyes locked firmly onto Tony's, his mouth set in a serious, stony line.

"You think that my wife's job would stop me from killing you? You clearly have no idea who you are dealing with. If you did know who I was, then you would be very worried now. You taking my son from me was the biggest mistake you have ever made."

Jane saw a flash of fear cross De Santis' face, clearly affected by his choice of words.

"I haven't got time for this crap," De Santis told him, angrily storming past Jane, but stopped a few feet away turning back to face him again. "Oh, please make sure you send my love to that lovely wife of yours for me."

* * *

"Are you sure this is the location?" Adams asked, looking baffled at the busy nightclub from across the street. "Seems... seedy."

"That's the place Wylie gave me. He reckons Jane's inside, been here for the past hour. Let us go find out."

Cho and Adams jumped out the SUV quickly, crossing the street. As they approached the nightclub doors, bypassing the long line of people queuing, they flashed their FBI badges to the doormen who granted them instant access with no questions asked.

The base of the music vibrated heavily through their bodies. Adams tugged on Cho's sleeve pointing over to the VIP area. Sitting in one of the large booth's, drinking a beer and chatting with a pretty blonde, was Patrick Jane. The blonde was coquettishly with her hair, laughing at Jane's every word and not so subtly pushing her cleavage up against his arm. Clearly, this wasn't her first rodeo with a male that would give her attention.

"What the...? His son is missing, his wife is back in Austin near breaking point and he is out on the pull?" Adams shouted loudly over the music, a little shocked by Jane's actions. Some people dealt with shock and crisis in different ways, but getting hammered and picking up random women was not one she felt Jane would ever do. He wouldn't do that to Lisbon, and surely not when time was of the essence.

"One thing I learned years ago about Patrick Jane. Nothing is ever what they seem," Cho replied, moving his way through the crowded dance floor over to the VIP area.

"Oh, Patrick, you're so funny," the blonde said, nudging Jane's arm playfully whilst flashing her cleavage a little more in his direction. Both Jane and the blonde stopped laughing when they saw two federal agents standing at the end of their table glaring at them.

Before either party could say anything, Jane stood up from the table showing his annoyance at his colleagues blatant interference.

"Excuse me for a second, my dear. I just need to talk my colleagues here. I will be right back." Jane winked playfully at the blonde and stepped over to the bar, followed closely by Cho and Adams.

"What's going on?" Cho asked once out of clear earshot of the woman.

"Yeah, what is going on? Your wife is back in Austin worried sick. You remember her, don't you?" Adams remarked, practically foaming at the mouth by Jane's actions.

"Yes, of course, I do. I am doing whatever it takes to get our son back."

"Like jeopardizing your marriage in the process?" Adams angrily glanced back at the slutty blonde, who was preoccupied with reapplying her lip gloss in a compact mirror.

"She's a stripper at De Santis' club here in Dallas. I am trying to win her trust. It's a new club, so she has no loyalty to De Santis yet. If De Santis or one of his associates knows where my son is, then I need someone who can help me find out where, and Tiffany over there, can do that."

"So, you're doing what exactly?" Cho asked sternly, feeling like history was starting to repeat itself. "Hitting on her for tips?"

"Like I said, I am trying to gain her trust."

"And when she wants more than just your 'trust'? Then what?" Adams asked, knowing exactly what the blonde would want from the consultant by the end of the evening if her low-cut dress and no panties look was anything to go by.

"Then she wouldn't get it, obviously. " Jane replied sharply, becoming annoyed. "Look, I am just showing her some harmless attention and gentlemanly charm, pretending to treat her like a lady to get what I want. I need someone on the inside of De Santis' place. And she can do that for me."

"This is crazy, you're going to put your trust in some dim woman who works for Santis," Adams stated, trying to get Jane to see how ridiculous his plan was. "You need to come back to Austin, Lisbon needs you."

"Yeah, well my wife made it clear she doesn't want me around now and I need to focus on getting our son back alive. That sleazy son of a bitch is involved in Mikey kidnapping, he practically told me and if we pay the ransom money, I guarantee you De Santis will be three million richer for it," Jane stated angrily

"Your wife is back in the office right now out of her mind! She's worried sick and asked me to bring you home alive, goddamn it!" Adams told him angrily.

"You spoke to De Santis?" Cho asked raising an eyebrow knowing that Jane could have just jeopardized their investigation into Mikey's disappearance.

"Look, just go back to Austin. I will call you as and if I need you." Jane began heading back to the blonde, but Cho stepped in his way blocking his path.

"I can't do that, Jane. Abbott instructed us to bring you in before you do anything stupid or illegal."

"Yeah, well, I am not leaving Dallas. Not without my son."

As Jane made a move around Cho, the stoic agent firmly placed his hand on his chest stopping his movement.

"I promised Lisbon that wouldn't let you do anything stupid. Things are different this time, Jane."

"Different? How?"

"Yes. you have much more to lose this time. This isn't Red John. That girl over there isn't Lorelei Martins, okay? And you can't throw your life away and hope for an FBI get out of free card again. You need to think of your family."

"I am thinking of my family, goddamn it. I need to get my son back home. To my wife."

For the first time, Cho saw Jane was a desperate man who was the near breaking point, desperately trying to do anything he could to get his baby son home. Jane brushed Cho's hand away walking back to the blonde sat in the booth.

"What shall we do? Arrest him?" Adams asked, watching as the blond haired consultant walked over to the other woman. Cho began following Jane, catching up with him before he reached the table.

"Jane, wait. We want to help you. We want to get Mikey back as much as you do. We will think of something. You're not alone in this. Please, let us help you this time. Do it for your son. For Lisbon."

'Okay." Jane nodded his head, reluctantly, knowing Cho was right. He did have so much more to lose this time round.

Jane looked over at the blonde who now focus on the two men. Jane plastered a big fake beaming smile on his face and turned to speak to the dim stripper. "Tiffany, it has been a pleasure meeting you, but I have to go. I have some work business I need to take care of."

"Oh, okay." Tiffany's face slumped, clearly frustrated blasé companion was brushing her off. "Well, maybe you and your friend could pop in the new club one day. I will give you lap dance, free of charge."

"Uh, thanks." Jane winced a little at her dishonorable offer, but kept his fake smile in place.

"Wow, she's classy," Adams said under her breath, following Cho and Jane through the busy club.

* * *

Climbing into the SUV, Cho drove them to a nearby motel. He could see Jane hadn't had much sleep since Mikey had been kidnapped, and if they were going to come up with a plan to get Mikey back then he needed some well-needed rest. Once checking them in and watching a tired, weary Jane head off to his room. Cho pulled his cell phone out of his pocket.

"Hi, Boss. Yeah, it's me. Yeah, we found him. We are at the Ranch motel for now. I think you need to bring Lisbon up here. Jane needs her."

* * *

 **Thank you for all the follows, faves and reviews. We really appreciate it. :)**


	5. Chapter 5

Jane sat on the edge of the bed, his fingers tap-tap-tapping on his knee in impatience. De Santis was telling the truth about not knowing where Mikey was. He had seen it in the thug's eyes as he unwillingly gazed into his depths, trying something, anything, to give him hope. He had found that hope, but not in the way he thought. De Santis was very serious when he said he didn't know Mikey's whereabouts. However, Jane remained unconvinced that Tony was innocent in his son's kidnapping.

Jane lifted himself from the bed and took his hotel key off his dresser. He exited the room, taking care to make sure Cho and Adams were still in their rooms and walking down the hall toward the exit. He had to find out what exactly De Santis knew. If he had to follow that asshole all night, he would. He wanted to catch him in the act of anything that would provide him a lead on his son's placement.

"Where do you think you're going, Jane?" a voice called from behind him. "Anywhere specific?"

Turning around, Jane saw that Cho and Adams were standing in the hall, their arms crossed and a sullen look on their faces. Jane sighed, stuck a hand through his blond locks and stepped toward them. He frowned and then shook his head.

"De Santis has an idea where my son is," Jane told them both. "He may not know the location, but he knows who has him. He probably took him himself. I am going to find out what he knows. Now, you can arrest me, or you can help me get my son back," Jane said. "You can help him come home alive, or be the reason he dies. Up to you."

Cho uncrossed his arms and pointed toward the double doors that lead outside. "We do this together, Jane. Not alone. After you."

Jane felt affection for Cho as he smiled and turned around, leading the two agents out into the dark, distant night. They got to the SUV, getting in and fastening their seat belts. Cho turned to Jane in the passenger seat.

"Where to?" Cho asked.

"Back to Tony's club. When I was talking with Tiffany, she told me that the owner leaves at about midnight," Jane explained. "We follow him out. Whatever he is doing every night at midnight isn't good. And I think it pertains to Mikey and his friend, Max."

"Going to be a long night," Adams said from the back seat.

Cho nodded his head, started the SUV and rolled out. "You know Lisbon is going to kick my ass. I told her to come up here, you needed her. She's going to be very disappointed when tell her not to come."

"She'll thank me when I put Mikey back in her arms. She can add this disappointment to the list. I haven't been exactly the greatest husband," he said softly.

"Jane," Cho told him. "You know I don't like talking about this kind of thing, but she loves you. She's just in a bad way. She knows you are a good father and husband. Hell, all of the FBI knows it."

"It doesn't feel like it."

Ten minutes of quiet later, Cho pulled into Tony's seedy gentleman's club, putting the SUV in park. Cho turned off the ignition and all three waited. The flashing clock on the SUV dash said it was eight minutes until midnight. They remained silent as the minutes ticked by. Finally, at about ten after twelve, Jane caught Tony's hulking figure leaving the joint, flanked by Max and an unknown male. He watched as they got into a large, blue Range Rover, speeding away from the parking lot.

"Keep a distance," Jane told Cho. "We don't want him to figure out we're following him. Nice and easy."

In the darkness, they kept a gap as they followed Tony through the city and far out into the residential district. It was when they came up on the WELCOME TO OKLAHOMA CITY sign that Jane knew what was going on.

"Max is taking him somewhere," he said. "Showing him something."

"You think...?" Cho asked, trailing off.

"Mikey."

* * *

Tony drove up the long, gravel road that Max told him to take. He hadn't told Max that he knew he had talked to Patrick Jane. He'd save this surprise for later. Instead, he had made Max set up the meeting between himself and who had taken the kid. Max had assured him that Mason Aquila and Dale Yeager were ready and willing to make a deal for Mikey. They wanted a cut of the money in exchange for the kid. Tony didn't know what Max's game was, but he certainly knew that he wouldn't be exchanging any money with these idiots. He also knew that if Max thought he was getting away with this, he was assuredly mistaken.

"Is that them?" Tony nodded toward two men, who were waiting outside an old beat up pickup truck. "That your buddies?"

He glanced over and saw that Max was hesitating. He paused as if he wasn't sure. "Yeah," Max finally said.

Tony stopped the car and lifted the key from the ignition, getting out with Max and his second-in-command, David Purcell. The two men, who looked like they belonged in a hillbilly horror movie, came to meet them between the two cars. One was taller, with a muscular body, and the other was shorter, thinner and looked angry.

"You Tony?" the smaller one asked. "Yo, Max! This the guy?" Dale Yeager called over to Max.

"I'm the guy," Tony said. "You got the kid?"

"Yeah," Mason responded, talking for the first time. "He's sleeping peacefully in the back right now. You got my money?"

Tony smiled a small, thin smile at them, turning to David and Max and laughing loudly. "Check out these greedy fucks!" he roared.

"Max promised us a cut," the tall one named Mason said. "We want to collect."

"Fine," Tony said impatiently. "David, give them their cut." He motioned toward the two men.

David went back to the back of the SUV and opened the door. Scrounging around, he found what he was looking for and came back around the SUV. Lifting his arm, the cold steel of the gun flickered off the headlights of the pickup truck as he pumped two gunshots into each of the men's heads.

"Holy shit, Tony!" Max yelled. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"David, get the kid out from the truck and put him in the SUV," Tony ordered. "Me and Max, here, have something to discuss."

His henchman gave a grunt and lowered the gun, stepping over the two bodies on the ground. Tony turned toward David and smiled. He turned back to Max and smiled even wider.

"There is no kid in there, is there?" he asked Max. "You lied to me, Maxxy boy." Tony shook his head in mock disappointment. "You took the kid and hid him. And you gave up my location to a Fed."

David popped his head up and shook it vigorously. "No kid, boss."

"Shock!" Tony laughed. "Here is the deal, Max. You are going to call whoever has that fucking kid and tell them to bring him here, now, or I will have David over there make this a three-count," Tony said, pointing to the two dead men on the ground. "You better fucking do some magic, Max."

"I can't!" Max rationalized. "Please, Tony. Have some fucking mercy."

"Give me your fucking phone, Max," said Tony. "Let me see your contacts."

Tony reached over and pulled at Max's clothing, ripping a hole in his shirt and fumbling through his pockets until he pulled out his phone. Tony let Max go and had David point his gun at his friend. Tony slid his finger on the screen, pulling up his contacts. He noticed one phone number recurring in Max's directory. He didn't recognize the number. He pressed the entry and put the phone to his ear, waiting for the other party to answer.

"Max?" the female voice inquired even before a greeting. "Is everything okay?"

"Oh," Tony said, laughing. "This is just too good. Stella, you old bitch. I thought you were dead."

"Where's Max? Don't hurt him, Tony!" Stella pleaded on the other end. "Please!"

"You know I can't promise you that, Stel. He lied to me," he told her. "You know where the kid is, though, I am guessing. Tell me, and I might be inclined to let him live."

"I can't let you hurt that child, Tony," she told him, sobbing now. "You can't have him."

"Then say goodbye to Max. Simple."

"Please!" Max begged. "Please just listen!"

"I'm done listening to you!" Tony yelled at him. "You fucking lied!"

"David," he told his henchman, "shoot him in the fucking head. We're done."

* * *

Lisbon arrived at the hotel a few hours after Cho had called and said he needed her. When she got there, however, the desk clerk couldn't get any of the Agents on the phone. She thanked the night clerk and sighed. They are long gone. She went back to her car and pulled out her phone, dialing Jane's number. Voicemail. She tried Cho and Adams' phones and got the same.

"Damn it," she whispered in frustration.

She dialed Wylie's number and got the reliable Agent on the phone on the second ring. She smiled at his chipper voice. She needed a little bit of that right now. She needed that punch of quirky in her depressing situation.

"Wylie, have Cho or anyone else checked in?" she asked, already knowing the answer was no.

"Nope," he told her. "Why? Are they M.I.A from the F.B.I?" Wylie chuckled.

"I'm serious!" Lisbon snapped.

"Sorry! Bad timing," Wylie said apologetically. "I can run a GPS track on their phones if you think that would help..."

"That would be great, Jason!" she said.

"Right," he said.

She could hear him clicking the keys on the other side of the phone. Finally, after a few minutes, he came back to the phone and sighed.

"All three phones are together in the same location. It looks like some kind of heavily wooded area," Wylie told her. "I don't know if you should go there alone, Teresa."

"I'll be fine here. Give me the address," she told him. She popped open the glove compartment and reached in for her Glock she always kept there. "Thanks!"

She hung up and put the Glock in her waistband as she started the car again and headed for Oklahoma City. She hoped she'd make it on time. The four-hour drive would be nerve-wracking, but she felt confident that they were there for a reason: Mikey.

* * *

Cho and the gang rolled up just as Max was cowering away from Tony. They could see two bodies on the ground in front of the truck. Cho killed the engine and the lights and was about to get out when Jane reached over and grabbed a hold of the Agent's arm.

"You can't interrupt, Cho," Jane told him. "If he knows we are here, he'll kill Mikey."

"There are two dead people on the ground, Jane," Cho told him.

"They're already gone, Cho!" Jane told him. "You really want to risk a baby's life for people who are beyond help?"

Cho sighed and sat back, his hands grabbing the steering wheel. They watched as the big guy came over and pointed a gun at Max's head. Cho again went to get out, and again Jane put a hand on him.

"It's a test, Cho," Jane explained. "He's testing someone he has on the phone."

Sure enough, they watched as Tony told the big guy to back off. Max lifted himself up straight and Tony hung up the phone. They could hear his laughter puncture the still, quiet night.

"Stella is on her way with the kid!" Tony said loudly to Max. "Seems threatening to shoot you did the bitch in. But we are far from finished, Maxxy."

Jane's ears perked with the mention of Mikey. His heart soared when he realized that this meant Mikey was alive. He was alive and he was going to lay eyes on his son for the first time since he was taken.

"You think he's being truthful?" Adams asked.

"Yes," Jane said. "De Santis wouldn't lie when given the chance to kill someone. She's coming with my son."

They waited for a good three hours before they saw the third truck pull up and kill its lights. They could see a woman emerge from the truck's cab, her hands in the air. She floated backward toward the back seat and opened the door. Jane gasped loudly as she emerged with Mikey in her arms, a toy stuck in his little hands.

"Mikey!" Jane exclaimed.

Before Cho or anyone could stop him, Jane flung open the car door and ran toward the scene in front of them. Cho and Adams followed suit. Jane ran toward Tony, the female, Max and his son. He didn't care about his own life, but his son's were important. His warning earlier to Cho about not going in melted away at the sight of Mikey.

"Let my son go, Tony!" Jane shouted, walking now. "Let him go!"

Tony turned in shock and looked at Jane. Before Stella could stop him, Tony tore Mikey from her grip. Tony stuck out his other hand for Jane to stop his advancement.

"Don't come any closer, Mr. Jane," Tony warned him. "You don't want anything to happen to your kid, do you?"

"Tony, don't!" Stella pleaded. "He's just a baby!"

"Shut up, traitor bitch!" Tony commanded. "David, hand me your gun."

The big guy took his gun and handed it over to Tony as Cho and Adams pulled their guns from their holsters. Tony laughed and lifted the gun to face the sky.

"Guns on the ground, Agents," he told Cho and Adams. "Do it."

Jane motioned for them to place their weapons on the ground. They did so reluctantly, pushing them across the dirt with their shoes. Tony pointed the gun at Stella now.

"I thought I had Max kill you," he said. "I can see he does things half-assed."

Three things happened simultaneously: two gunshots rang out, Stella fell to her knees to catch baby Mikey in her arms, and Tony De Santis hit the dirt floor with a bullet hole in his leg, while David, the henchman, caught one in the chest.

"GET DOWN!" Cho shouted, hitting the ground and reaching for the gun he kicked in the dirt earlier.

Adam's mimicked Cho's movements, grabbing her own gun and popping up on her knees. They watched Stella stagger away as Jane ran over to her and pick up his son from her arms.

"He's my son!" Jane told her when she hesitated, latching onto the toddler.

Max staggered away, shocked at the bullets that came whizzing by him and hit Tony in the leg and the other guy in the heart. He watched his so-called friend withering in pain and holding his leg as Cho and Adams advanced up on them.

Before they could do anything, a rustling from the woods caught their attention. With guns drawn, they watched the person emerge from the woods, a gun in their hands.

"Get those guns out of my face and let me go hug my son!" Lisbon told Cho, dropping her gun on the ground and running at Jane and Mikey.

With confused faces, they let her go. Lisbon ran to Jane, hugging him and Mikey close, crying as she kissed her son's face everywhere she could reach.

"My baby boy!" she sobbed, taking the child from Jane and hugging the scared, crying toddler to her chest. "We found you! Daddy and mommy found you."

Stella rose to her feet and stood back. Lisbon, however, couldn't hold her emotions in any further. She walked over to the woman with Mikey and hugged her.

"What's this for?" the woman said, hugging the child and mother.

"Being a mother and trying to protect my son. Thank you."

Lisbon wasn't stupid. She knew Stella was trying to protect her son. She knew that Stella had not wanted to give up her son. She didn't know where Mikey had come from, but she knew she had to protect the innocent child. It was Lisbon's maternal instinct telling her this, and she would never not follow that instinct.

"I'm so glad he's okay!" Stella told Lisbon. "I really am."

Lisbon was about to answer back when another shot rang out. This time, Adams was the one to slump to the dirt. Jane, Lisbon, Stella, and Mikey ducked behind Stella's pickup.

As they looked around the fender of the pickup, they could see Cho and Tony face-to-face, each with a gun in their hand. Tony must have had one hidden on him, and as Cho and Adams checked on the dead men, he pulled it out and shot Adams square in the chest.

"Max, get in the pickup, now," Tony ordered Max. "Drive us so fucking far from here, man."

"You shot a cop!"

"I don't fucking care! Get in!"

Tony kept his gun trained on Cho. Max opened the driver's door of the dead men's pickup. The keys were still in the ignition as he turned the engine. He scooted over as Tony got in.

Lisbon reached for her weapon but remembered that she dropped it over near the two dead men. Tony's weapon was her Glock! Before she could think of anything else. Tony and Max barreled through, pushing their SUV off to the side as Cho fired his weapon into the truck.

"Shit!" Cho said, letting the truck go and tending to Adams. "You're going to be okay!" he promised her. "Stay with me!"

"Kimball?" she squeaked feebly.

"Shh! Lisbon! Jane! Call 911, tell them we have a Fed down!"

Jane reached in his pocket for his phone and dialed.

"He's going to kill Max," Stella breathed. "He's taking him somewhere to kill him."

"You better hope he doesn't get to the Mexican border," Jane said to Stella. "Or he's gone for good."

"He's bleeding. He'll need to stop somewhere," Lisbon told her, handing the baby to Jane with the intention of going to help Cho with Adams. "Do you know any place that might be?"

Stella thought for a minute. "His nightclub Max said he just opened."

* * *

 **Thank you all the reviews and follows we really appreciate it. This is my fave chapter so far. I know you will enjoy it. ;)**


	6. Chapter 6

The door of the new Oklahoma strip club opened with a loud bang as Tony flew it open. A few of the girls squealed, rushing out the pathway of the new club owner pointing a gun at his man's head.

"Get moving," De Santis shouted, pushing the barrel of the gun hard into Max's back.

"Everything okay boss?"

A few of De Santis' henchmen stepped forward from the bar area seeing their boss was bleeding heavily in one leg and pointing a gun at Max. They looked from Max to Tony nervously.

"Yeah, just fucking perfect. Do we have a first aid box in this place?" De Santis asked, looking down at his leg dripping blood onto the newly polished floors.

"Sure, boss. I think it's in the office out back. Tony, you're bleeding," Rick stated, looking anxiously between Max and Tony unsure of who his alliance was to in this situation.

"No shit, Sherlock. Look, all I need a first aid box and some cash from the safe and we will be on our way again."

"You want us to clear the place out?" Rick asked, turning back to look at the main room as several naked women danced on poles surrounded by lots of drunken clients unaware of what was going on.

"No, no. Keep everything as it is. If anyone shows up looking for me, you just tell them you ain't seen me and ring my cell and we will escape out the secret passage way."

"Yes, boss."

"Move it cunt. Get through to the back." Tony pushed max violently forward towards to the back area office, limping in pain and leaving a trail of blood spots behind him.

* * *

"Stay with me, Sam. Come on, don't you there die on me, okay? Stay with us! Think of Josh. He needs his mommy. That little boy needs you, so you just hold on okay?" Cho said, his voice shaking a little as he smoothed Adams' hair off her forehead, placing her gently in his lap.

"Hey, remember the time on that stakeout and you confessed to reading the Fifty Shades Of Grey books to me? Well, guess what? I read the first one, too. It was the biggest seller of the year. I had to read what all the fuss was about."

Adams gave a small laugh at Cho's honest confession, but then groaned in agony when she took in a shaky breath.

Lisbon, who was crouched beside them both holding Adams limp hand, smiled at Cho's secret book reading habits, but silently prayed the ambulance would hurry up.

"The ambulance is here," Lisbon shouted quickly, running over to the middle of the road waving her hands frantically in the air in the light of the bright headlights. Jane was stood cuddling Mikey a few feet back near the truck trying to keep him calm with all the noise and bullet chaos that had happened previously.

Stella was also knelt on the ground helping, putting her shirt against Adams' chest, applying pressure on the gunshot wound to help stop the bleeding. She saw Adams' eyes roll back and her groans fade as did Cho.

"No, come on, Sam. Stay with me! Help is here! No, Adams! Stay with me." Cho's voice became louder as Adams lost complete consciousness and her body became limp in his arms.

"Get over here now!" he shouted at the paramedics, who were climbing quickly out the vehicle. His eyes filling with tears as the young woman's life drained slowly from her body. "Come on! Come on, Sam! Don't do this." Cho felt himself being dragged upwards as the paramedics arrived and began tending to the Adams' bleeding, lifeless body. As he steadied himself on his feet, he realized it was Lisbon holding him up, his eyes never leaving Adams lying bleeding to death on the floor.

"Cho, let them do their job okay? Come on, Kimball." Lisbon spoke softly, trying to get Cho to step back. It felt like hours ticking by as they watched the paramedics trying in vain to bring Adams back to life.

"Her heart has stopped," shouted one of the paramedics grabbing the defibrating machine. They all watched in silence as they ripped open her blood stained shirt, placing the pads to her exposed chest. The sound of the defibrating machine charging up was the only thing to be heard through the warm night air.

Adams' limp body lifted up off the floor slightly as the electricity began surging through her body. The heart rate machine showed she was still flat-lining. Lisbon placed her hand in Cho's, seeing her long time friend in clear distress by the unfolding situation. He gripped her fingers back tightly, silently watching as the electricity zapped through Adams' body over and over.

"I am sorry. She's gone," said one of the paramedics after several minutes, leaning back on his heels and wiping the sweat off his brow.

"What? No. No. No, do it again!" Cho shouted, pulling himself out of Lisbon grip and falling to his knees beside Adams' lifeless body. "She has a little boy. Do it again. NOW," he shouted glaring angrily at the paramedics.

"Sir, I know this..."

"I said do it again, now, that's an order!" Cho angrily grabbed the paramedic by his shirt dragging him halfway across the ground to Adams.

The scared paramedic nodded to the other to start the to machine back up. Placing the pads to the Adams' chest again, everyone held their breaths waiting as the electricity hit her body. Suddenly, there was sound a loud beep echoing on the heart monitor and it sprung into life. The sound of several sighs of relief was heard from everyone who was stood watching the scene.

A small smile graced Cho's lips as he slowly bent down, kissing Adams on the forehead. "Good girl," he whispered. "Good girl."

"We need to get her to a hospital. She has lost a lot of blood." With that, the two paramedics lifted her body on the stretcher, making her safely secure to move. Everyone gravitated towards the ambulance.

Cho pulled out his cell phone, heading to the SUV parked in the shadows further along the road. "Yeah, Wylie, it's me. I need you get local PD and a SWAT team to the Fantasy strip club in Oklahoma City now. No, no time to explain, I am heading there now. Tell them we are going after De Santis and his man They should heading there as we speak. He is injured, too. Okay, I will call back for an update in a while when I get nearer.

"Cho wait," Jane shouted out as he placed his son carefully into his wife's arms. "Lisbon, take Mikey and go to the to hospital with Adams, and get him checked out. Cho, wait, I am coming with you."

As Jane began making his way to the SUV, Lisbon grabbed his arm pulling him back

"Jane, don't do this. You can't kill this bastard and get away with it. Not again."

"Teresa, trust me okay. It's going to be okay. No one here is going to be killing anyone. I promise you." Jane leaned forward, placing a soft kiss to her cheek and smiling lovingly back at her. Lisbon studied her husband face and noticed he seemed very calm and relax and not at all like a man wanting to get his revenge. Lisbon wasn't sure if this was some kind of act for her benefit, or if Jane was the really was okay now Mikey was back safely with them.

Jane ran up the gravel road after Cho, jumping in the SUV. It sped away down the road, leaving a cloud of dust in their wake.

"Ma'am, we have to get to the hospital."

"It's okay, we will follow you in my truck," said Stella to the paramedic, smiling kindly over at Lisbon and Mikey who was watching her husband disappear into the night.

* * *

The SUV sped down the highway at well over a hundred miles an hour. Neither Cho or Jane had said a word to each other since climbing into the vehicle. Jane noticed Cho hands and arms were still covered in Adams' blood, and he was gripping the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles were pure white in color.

Jane pulled an old looking flip cell phone out of his inside pocket, pressing the green call button. He sat quietly staring out of the passenger window, looking up at the starry night sky quickly whizzing by as the cell in his hand began connecting its call.

"Yeah, it's me. Just to let you know, it's over. It's done. Et voila."

With this, Jane flipped the cell closed, pulling off the battery cover and pulling out the sim card from the back. He sat staring off into the distance, tapping his finger in deep thought against his mouth. Jane then pressed the electronic window button downwards and threw the cell phone and broken sim out of the window, hearing it smash into pieces as the plastic hit the tarmac at a hundred miles an hour behind them.

'What was that?" Cho asked, taking is eyes briefly off the road to see Jane had chucked something heavy out of the window.

"Ah, nothing you need to worry about, my friend."

Jane frowned in concern as he noticed the SUV swerving over to the left as Cho focused his attention on him and not the road.

"Cho, I know you are in a hurry, and you want to get to Oklahoma City to kill this son of a bitch, but I rather we both make it there alive. Slow down, please, and keep eyes on the road. Okay?"

Cho realized the car was veering off the highroad, and turned the wheel slightly to the right to straighten up and easing off the accelerator. Jane gave a sigh of relief as he felt they were slowing down.

"Besides, if you kill us in a car accident, you will never get to finally ask Adams out on a date when she is fully recovered like you have secretly been wanting to." Jane smiled at his stoic friend, but Cho remained stony faced and focused on the road ahead of him.

"If she recovers...?" Cho stated quietly.

"She will. She is strong, Cho. She will come through this."

They continued the rest of the car journey in silence, neither questioning what the other was going to do when they got there and found Tony De Santis.

* * *

"Agent Cho. I am detective Wilkinson. We got your message and call from your colleague, Agent Wylie, in Austin. Your supervising Agent, Agent Abbott, is on his way from Austin in an FBI chopper, also. We have surrounded the place for you as requested. De Santis and Sheffield arrived about twenty-five minutes ago, according to one of the punters over there. There has been no sighting of either them coming in or out the building. I have called SWAT and they are ready to storm the building whenever you are. There are several public citizens inside, but we think we can contain the situation without any major casualties."

"Oh. There's no need for all that hoo-hah detective."

"Excuse me?" The Sergeant turned around, peeved to have his hard work and suggestions argued against him. He turned to find Jane leaning casually against the bonnet of the SUV, picking at his nails.

"I think you will find if we and a few of your well-trained officers enter the premises and go in search of what we are after, we will easily find it. No need for raids or smoke bombs or heavy artillery guns by the die-hard gang over there." Jane motioned his eyebrows towards the eager SWAT team gather behind them.

"Who are you?" asked the detective, annoyed.

"Hi. Jane. Patrick Jane."

"He is FBI consultant. He is with me," Cho replied, focused on the large stripclub across the road. "You sure about this Jane?" Cho asked, pulling on his bulletproof vest and grabbing his second-hand gun from the SUV, looking over at the consultant. He had worked with the man long enough to know when it was best to go with one of his hunches. Cho ignored the protests of the detective as he didn't want any other innocent people getting hurt because of this animal De Santis.

"Yeah, I am," Jane said, straightening up and smiling a winning smile to Cho happy he was being taken seriously with minimal fuss.

"Okay, then. Let's go! You three follow me." Cho pointed to three large local PD officers stood close by. "Put this on." Cho threw a Kevlar at Jane.

"Really?" Jane rolled his eyes as Cho threw the vest at him. "Fine." Jane pretended to put the vest over his head as he watched Cho and the officers move across the road to the club. Once he knew they were focused on the club, Jane removed the vest, throwing it at the grumpy detective stood beside him, and crossed the road to catch up with them.

"Where is De Santis?" Cho shouted,entering the club over the thumping music as the three officers stood menacingly behind him, their guns drawn at the men stood near the bar.

"Who? Never heard of him?"

"Ah, the old denial act." Jane entered the club and lean against up one of the stages as a half-naked woman crouched down trying to get his attention and interest in her. Without even glancing her way, Jane pushed away from the stage and moved to stand next Cho.

"Do you have the warrant to be here?" asked Rick, the main guy wearing a silver, shiny suit and bright red shirt, like an extra from a bad mafia movie.

"We don't need one." Cho nodded to the three officers who began fanning out and searching the club.

"This way, Cho," Jane shouted, grinning towards the dark velvet curtains at the back of the room and pointing his finger at blood spots scattered on the floor.

"Hey, come back you can't go back there!" Rick quickly pressed his phone, dialling his boss's number secretly in his pocket to let him know to use the secret escape passage which led out a small hatch over a block away. "You can't go back there! That's the girls area! It's private."

Jane let out a loud laugh. "Oh, please. I don't think any of these women here have anything left to be private, anymore. Besides, we are not interested in the skanks who work here. We are after the man who hires them, so eat it, Pulp Fiction."

"Hey, I said you can't go back there." Rick moved towards the curtains, trying to stop them entering behind them, but was stopped forcefully by one the uniformed officers from taking a step further.

"Uh, I think you find we can," Jane said, grinning over at the overweight man in the bad suit and pulling back the curtains.

Walking past a large dressing room full of half-dressed women, Cho and Jane headed towards to the closed, large, oak polished doors further down the hall. Cho nodded to the other three LE officers, who drew their guns at the doors. Cho indicated he was entering and flung open the door making it bang loudly against the wall inside.

All three law enforcement officers lowered theirs guns at the scene in from of them. Cho spoke into his radio handset to notify the outside teams of what was happening.

"All stand down, we have found the suspects. I can confirm De Santis is dead. Best get your CSI guys in here to set the crime scene up. Over"

Cho walked into the plush new office, making his way to De Santis' dead body lying motionless on the floor. There was blood running all down the man's face, and a clean bullet hole in the center of his head, showing he had taken a bullet to the brain.

Sat silently on one of the office's leather couches was Max Sheffield, calmly staring off into the distant, not reacting at all to the men entering the room. Cho radio sprung into life as Detective Wilkinson spoke from outside the building.

"Okay, will do. Copy that. Over."

"What happened?" Cho asked, stepping over De Santis' dead body and approaching Max.

"Hmm, best call an ambulance. It looks he is gone into shock," Jane said, studying Max from the office doorway and casually biting into an apple he had found somewhere in the club. Cho ordered one of the officers to call an ambulance for the suspect, agreeing with Jane's analysis of him going into shock. Cho turned and left the office, followed by a very calm and relaxed Jane who was still munching on his healthy snack.

* * *

"Has he said anything yet?" Abbott asked, looking at a very still Max sat in the interrogation room at the Oklahoma FBI offices.

"Nothing. Doctor's say he is physically okay but just shut down mentally. He is some sort of trance, he reckons," Cho replied.

"Trance?" Abbott asked, curious by that statement. "And you have no idea what happened between him and De Santis?"

"No, none. We just entered the office to find De Santis already dead on the ground with a bullet to the brain."

"You? You mean you and Jane. Not the swat team?"

"Yes. Jane suggested we take a chance on it. Go in ourselves with a few officers for back up."

"Did he, now?" Abbott narrowed his eyes in suspicion, knowing full well Jane was the last person to step forward in a takedown situation.

"How's Adams and Mikey doing?" Cho asked, not taking his eyes off Max through the two-way mirror.

"Lisbon just called. It looks like Mikey has been well cared for since he was taken, and Adams is being operated on as we speak. Next forty-eight hours will be critical, but she holding on strong. Doctor's reckons she will pull through. I have rung her ex-husband and explained the situation he is going to bring her little boy up to see her."

The sound of the interrogation door open and in walked Jane carrying steaming hot cup of tea placing it down gently in front of Max who still didn't flinch or react to his presence.

"What is he doing?" Abbott asked, concerned by his consultant actions.

"I don't know," Cho replied, watching the two men.

The sound of Jane's voice came through the speakers of the room.

"Here you are, Maxxy boy. I brought you a cup of tea for your shock." With this, Jane turned back to the two mirror, winking gleefully at Abbott and Cho who he knew was stood behind it.

"I am going to be taking the chopper to the hospital in Dallas to collect my family. Then we are taking a well-earned break. Anyway, Max is all yours, boys. Good luck."

With a big smug grin on his face, Jane left the interrogation room and Cho's attention was drawn away back to max who had slowly picked up the hot cup of tea from the table.

Max brought the plastic cup up to his lips but continued staring blankly ahead of him. As he gulped down the hot liquid, the scorching heat in his mouth made him hiss which made him jump up from his chair in shock and out of his trance-like state.

It took Max a few moments to realize what had burned his mouth. Standing up, with the chair overturned behind him, Max looked down, stunned at being handcuffed and alone in a police interrogation room.

"What the fuck? Where the fuck I am? Hey, what the hell has happened?" he shouted angrily towards the two-way mirror in front of him.

Abbott leaned his head against the cold wall is disbelief, groaning out loud, knowing exactly what had been wrong with Max all this time and that the medic had been correct when he had diagnosed him in a state like trance.

And there was no hard guessing as to who had put Max in it that state to begin with.

* * *

 **Thank you all so much for all your reviews and follows, we really do appreciate all the comments and support.**

 **This is the last couple of chapters of this story and we really hope that you have found them a fun action packed read. Enjoy. :)**


	7. Chapter 7

_TWO HOURS EARLIER..._

 _The ringing phone from his pocket distracted Tony. He poked Max hard in the back with the butt of the gun, the cold steel taking the breath right out of his lungs. He fell to his knees from the impact, bracing himself with his palms out in front of him. Max turned himself to face Tony, finding the gun stuffed in his face and an angry, tawdry expression on his face._

 _"You answer that fucking phone," Tony wheezed through pain, reaching into his pants and pulling out Max's phone. "Tell whoever it is on the other end to go fuck themselves and then we are going somewhere far, far away from here, Maxxy boy!" Tony told him, knocking back the hammer of the gun with a click. "Do it!"_

 _"Tony, you don't need to do this, man!" Max pleaded with him. "You are in serious shit, here, Tony. You're wounded, and you probably killed a cop! You don't have anywhere to go."_

 _"Answer the goddamn phone before I shoot you in the head and finish you off like I should have," he replied, pressing the gun against Max's brows. "Now." He handed the still ringing phone over, letting Max's shaking hand take a hold of it._

 _Max shook his head but pressed the accept button and placed it to his ear. Tony De Santis watched as at first, Max's expression was one he recognized. It was full of anxiety and fear. Tony smiled at the clear power he held over Max. That, however, was short-lived when Max's expression suddenly changed into a stony, determined look. Tony watched the other man's eyes turn cold and hard and watched as his mouth turned up in an evil smile._

 _"What the-" Tony exclaimed as Max dropped the phone onto the floor. Tony was momentarily distracted by this. Enough to be his downfall._

 _In one swift move, Max kicked out at Tony, hitting him in his injured leg with his heavily booted foot. Tony cried out in pain as he fell back, bumping into the wall and dropping the gun in the process. Max turned himself and lifted his body to stand. Reaching down, Max picked up the gun that had skidded across the floor to rest in front of him._

 _"No! Listen! I—I can make you my right-hand man, again, Maxxy!" Tony pleaded, pain lacing his words. "I can put all this shit behind us! Just you and me, Max!" He put up a hand to try to calm Max down. It was then that he noticed that Max seemed to be out of it. He was looking distant and not himself._

 _"You need to be stopped," Max told him in a monotone. "You can't hurt anybody else."_

 _"Max," Tony replied, shaking his head. "It's who we are, man."_

 _"It's who you are, Tony," Max told him. "You took Stella from me! You kidnaped an innocent baby! You did all of that."_

 _Without another word, Max lifted the gun to Tony De Santis' head and pulled the trigger one time. The gun kicked back in his hand, and the gun powder puffed in a small cloud in front of him. Max watched as Tony slumped on the floor with a clean bullet to the head. He calmly put the gun down on the small table next to him and sat down on the couch across from the body of Tony De Santis, awaiting someone, anyone, to come find him._

* * *

Present...

"He still can't remember anything?" Cho asked Abbott, slumping down in one of the office chairs.

"Not from the time he answered a phone call, he says," Abbott replied. "He's clearly been Jane'd."

"Sir? Jane'd?" Cho asked, his face screwed up in confusion.

Abbott laughed darkly. "Well, I can't prove anything but my guess is it's Jane's own kind of special revenge for taking his son. He hypnotized that guy. Made him take out Tony without getting his own hands dirty."

Cho laughed. "Remind me to get Jane's help if I ever need to commit the perfect murder," Cho told him. "So what are we going to do about this?"

Abbott crossed his arms and sat back, sighing deeply. "We will take what statements we can get. That should get Max Sheffield off for self-defense. Set him up with a new identity or something. He can go live a quiet life with his wife."

"He stowed Mikey away!" Cho countered. "He could have called us."

"He was scared of Tony."Abbott told him. "Besides, Max gave Mikey to a person he knew would take care of him and keep him safe in Stella."

"You get her statement yet?"

"Yep. Says Tony forced Max to hide the baby. Also states Max didn't want any harm to come to the baby, so he called her up and told her to keep the baby safe for him."

"Well, at least Mikey is back with his parents. Has Jane gone?" Cho asked, standing and yawning loudly. "He said he was going to."

"Yeah," Abbott told him. "Jane went to collect his wife and son from the hospital . You should go home, too, Kimball. You look like shit. No offense," Abbott said, smiling.

"None was taken. I probably smell like it, too, after sweating in this heat. I think I am going to go see Sam, though. See how she's doing."

Abbott nodded his head at his Agent and smiled a knowing smile. "Okay."

"I'll finish the reports tomorrow, okay?" Cho said, walking toward the office door. "Have them on your desk by noon."

"Go, Kimball. Be with Sam."

Cho looked at Abbott and he knew the other man figured out a long time ago that he had some feelings for Adams. He nodded his head curtly at him and walked out of the office, leaving Abbott sitting there wondering what to do next.

* * *

Jane smiled as he lifted his son from his wife's arms, his lips finding the boy's cheek. He ruffled the baby's hair with his hand as he kissed his little forehead. He turned to his wife and pulled her to his side with his free hand.

They were back at their home, the cabin Jane had renovated with his own hands. They were in their bedroom, where Jane had set up Mikey's foldable crib beside their bed. It was a fit of nerves from Lisbon that had him putting it together and dragging it inside their room.

"It's so good to have you back, baby boy!" Jane told his son. "I missed you so much."

"Mikey is exhausted, Jane," Lisbon told him. "He's falling asleep in your arms." She smiled and nodded her head toward their son.

Sure enough, Mikey's eyes were dropping and he was leaning against Jane's chest, drifting off into sleep. Jane kissed his head once more before turning and placing their son in the crib, covering him with a blanket that had Elephants emblazoned on it. They stood there looking down at their son for a long time before Lisbon finally turned to get ready for bed.

"We should talk, Teresa," Jane said softly, turning and watching her as she took off her shirt, shoes, and pants. "About things. It could help."

"Jane," Lisbon said, shaking her head. "You really want to talk about this now?" she whispered. "We just got him back."

Jane walked over to her and reached out to pull her chin up so he could look her in the eyes. He frowned and pursed his lips, tilting his head to gauge her expression.

"Teresa, you literally kicked me out of our bedroom the other day. I tried to comfort you, and you said we were bad parents. Do you remember that?" he asked her. "I admit, my actions that night were inexcusable," he said, closing his eyes, "but they don't make us bad parents. They make us human."

"We were going to have sex! While he was missing!" she whispered loudly, throwing her chin from his hand. "You tried to seduce me. That was your version of comfort?"

"Okay. I can see you are still angry at me for that," he said. "I thought you wanted me to, Teresa. I thought you wanted me to comfort you that way. I was only trying to help. I swear to you!"

She casted her eyes downward toward the floor and sighed. Stepping forward, she pressed herself against Jane's chest, her arms wrapping tightly around her husband's torso. She felt his arms automatically come to wrap her, his hand pressing against the back of her head, mingling in the dark tresses.

"I know," she finally whispered. "And the sick thing is I wanted to be comforted that way. I really did. I'm a sick person. A sick mother!"

Jane's hands found her shoulders at once, and he pressed on them, leaning her back so he could look at her closely. He shook his head at her and sighed.

"You are not a sick mother, Teresa. You were vulnerable! You were broken. Don't you dare beat yourself up or blame yourself! This isn't on you! It's not on me! We were needful, Teresa," he told her seriously. "We needed each other."

"We still do," she told him in a whisper.

He understood her infliction very well. He pulled her to him and kissed her hard on the mouth, pressing his lips to hers as her hands came up to press behind his neck, pushing him harder to her.

She felt his hands slid down her warm skin and glide back up, his fingertips following the curve of her spine to her bra hooks. His tongue demanded entrance into her mouth, and she gave permission, groaning against his lips as she felt his nimble fingers unclasp her bra and let it hang off her as his hands slid up to her neck and shoulders, pushing the straps from her arms.

She gasped as Jane's hands suddenly dropped to pick her up, her legs closing around his waist in auto-response. There was a guttural moan from Jane as he lifted her onto the edge of the oak dresser against the wall.

"Jane, the baby," she gasped in his ear as his hand found her breast in the loose cup of her bra. "He'll hear us."

"We'll just have to be quiet, Teresa," he told her roughly. "I don't think I can stop."

He placed his forehead against hers as he shrugged out of his pants and boxers, not bothering to kick them off his ankles. He kissed her neck and chin before pulling her hard forward against him, his erection grinding against her warm core as their lips met once again.

There was something erotic about Jane being naked only from the waist down. He was mostly still clothed, which was incredibly hot to Lisbon. Her hands slid down to his hips and caressed him, pushing him forward hard against her hot center, groaning at the sensation of him at her slit.

"Make love to me, Jane," she whispered as her lips led a hot, wet trail to her ear. "Please."

The sound of Teresa begging him to make love to her almost undid him. It was almost enough to make him pull her panty aside and drive into her. He restrained himself. Teresa didn't deserve to be loved that way. She deserved tender kisses, touches and presses. He groaned when her hand came forward and rubbed his hard length, the sensation ripping through him. If she kept that up, he didn't know if he could be easy on her.

"I will," he told her. "I will."

He felt her guide his hardness to her. He reached a hand down to move her panty aside as he felt her hand around his shaft, gliding him up and down her cleft before she guided his tip into her wetness. He pressed himself in deeply, forcing his lips to hers as she cried out. He felt her fingers dig into his shoulders as he began to thrust in and out of her gently.

The sound of the oak dresser squeaking underneath their moving bodies made Jane wish he had chosen the bed or floor to make love to her. He wasn't patient when it came to Teresa. He could never be patient with her wants or his own. As his thrusts became harder, the sound of the dresser became louder.

Thrusting into her over and over, he could feel her walls around him and he knew she was close.

"Let go, Teresa," he told her.

She cried out loudly as she came, hanging onto Jane as her body quivered against him, slumped against the dresser as he continued to push into her.

"Teresa," he muttered against her neck as he came inside her a minute later. "Teresa."

Both tried to get their breathing under control, neither moving or trying to disconnect from the other. After a few minutes, Jane pulled himself out of her and lifted her off the dresser. He pulled her by the hand over to the bed. Both discarded their remaining clothing and spooned naked on the mattress, both watching Mikey's crib.

"I'm sorry about everything, Jane," Lisbon said after a while. "When Mikey was gone, I mean. I blamed you. It wasn't fair."

"Shh," he told her, kissing the back of her neck. "You had your reasons."

"Yes, I did," she told him. "But there is more to it, Jane."

"Like what?" Jane asked, his fingers playing with her belly.

"Hormones."

"Hormones?" Jane asked confused.

Lisbon turned herself, pressing her bare breasts against his chest. She sighed and reached out to play with a stray curl stuck to his temple. She smiled at him and blinked sleepily.

"I'm pregnant, Jane," she told him. "I found out for sure the night you went to Oklahoma," she told him. "It must have happened before everything with Mikey happened."

"You're-you are having another baby?" Jane asked, lifting his head up and smiling widely. "Are you serious?"

"Very," she whispered. "Are you happy?"

"Happy?" Jane shouted. "I am elated, Teresa!"

Just as they were about to go round two in celebration of their newest arrival coming, Mikey woke up crying. Jane kissed her lips and reached down to kiss her flat belly before getting out of the bed and tending to his son.

"Shh," he told the crying baby. "Mommy has a surprise for you! To be delivered in a few months!"

She smiled at her husband and son as she laid there. They were back together. Nobody was going to tear them apart again.

* * *

Cho walked into the hospital room and smiled at Adams, who was eating something suspended in Jell-O. He walked over and sat in the chair next to her bed.

"This food is horrible," Adams said, lifting her spoon to show Cho the nasty orange on it. "Worse than Wylie's attempt at cooking that one time."

"How are you doing, Sam?" Kimball asked, watching her shove the spoon of food away. "You doing okay?"

She looked at him and sighed groaning as she shifted herself up in the bed. "Doctor's said I was lucky. Should be out of here in a few weeks. Is Mikey okay?"

"He's fine. Abbott has insisted that Jane get a lock on the door and a security system put up. They are all set," he informed her. "Hey... listen, I know we are colleagues and stuff, but I was wondering if you'd like to get coffee sometime?"

"Kimball?" Adams asked. "Are you asking me on a date?"

Cho nodded his head. "Yes," he said, deadpan.

"Is this cause I almost died? Because if it is, I assure you, pity is not necessary."

"Sam, this is not pity. This is me asking you out."

She studied him for a long moment, and then nodded her head and smiled. "Okay. Sure, Kimball. Coffee."

"Good. I look forward to it," he said.

"Kimball, come here," Adams said.

Cho lifted himself from the chair and leaned over. He was caught by surprise when Adams kissed him on the lips. He stood there in shock for a moment before he kissed her back. They only broke apart when a nurse came in to check her vitals.

"Don't mind me," the nurse said. "You got to get it while you can." She winked.

Cho cleared his throat. "I will see you later, Sam."

"No business like Cho business," Sam said, watching him leave. She had heard Jane say it once, and it seemed fitting.

"He seems like a real keeper," the nurse stated, laughing.

"Oh, he is," Adams said. "That he is."

* * *

EPILOGUE: One Year Later

Teresa watched Adams shift nervously. She smiled at the woman and nodded her head in approval.

"You look stunning," she told her. "The dress is beautiful. Cho will love it when he sees it."

They were dressing her for the walk down the aisle to marry Kimball Cho. Lisbon was happy and ecstatic for her partners, who had taken the same path as Jane and she had. Partners first, lovers second and husband and wife third.

"I think I am gonna puke," Sam said. "I feel sick."

"It's butterflies, dear," Lisbon told her. "Perfectly normal."

"Huh."

Before Lisbon could reply, Jane stuck his head inside the room and smiled. "I hope I am not intruding, but the baby won't stop crying. I think she needs to be fed."

"Can't you do that yourself?" Adams snapped.

"Uh, I would if I had the nice set of breasts to do it with," he answered. "Robin is hungry."

"I'll be there in a minute, Jane," Lisbon assured him.

"Okay," he said, ducking out of the room.

"How are you two doing?" Adams asked, clearly trying to get her mind off her impending marriage. "New baby and all..."

"We are doing a lot better. Robin is three months old, and Jane is just over the moon about her. Mikey is better, too. We are healing, Sam."

"I am glad, Teresa. How... how did it feel to have a second child? Did it feel different?" Sam asked.

Teresa looked suspiciously at Adams and bit her lip. "Sam, are you pregnant?"

"Me?" Sam laughed. She frowned after she knew Lisbon wasn't stupid. "Yeah. Yeah, I am. I'm scared it's been nine years since I had a baby, Teresa."

"Oh, Sam!" She hugged the woman to her. "Congrats to you and Kimball. I know it is scary, but remember when they put that child in your arms, it all fades away to love and happiness."

"I haven't told him yet," Sam told her. "It's been two months, Teresa."

"It's okay, Sam. Tell him when you are ready, okay? For right now, you have to go get married to him, okay?"

"Okay."

"I have to go fed Robin. Be strong."

Lisbon left her and went to go find Jane, Mikey, and their new daughter, Robin Rose. They were seated in the front row, both Mikey and Jane in their tuxedos, and little Robin in her white dress and a white band in her chestnut-colored hair. Lisbon sat down and took the three-month-old from Jane, and the blanket. She put the blanket over her shoulder and pulled her breast from her dress to let Robin latch on. The baby quieted down and Lisbon sighed.

"What's up?" Jane asked her.

"She's pregnant," Lisbon told Jane. "Two months."

"Oh."

"Remind you of anyone?" Lisbon teased.

"Us," Jane smiled.

"If they are anything like us," Lisbon said, leaning to kiss her husband on the lips, "they will survive even the deepest pits of hell life can give them."

Jane tapped his daughter on the diaper lightly, ruffled his son's hair, and kissed his wife once more.

"Even the darkest of tar pits," he agreed as the music started up and they rose in their seats to watch two other star-crossed lovers to marry, taking them back to their own time like that, and the future they have now.

THE END

* * *

 **We want to thank anyone who read, followed, or reviewed our story, we had alot of fun writing it and we hope you enjoyed reading it.**

 **THANK YOU. ㈴1**


End file.
